Stages
by Necchan
Summary: Sequel to Infecten. Shounen-ai. BluesxRockman. Warning: first fic to ever deal with Navi-Preg. "Something in Blues's systems infects Rockman, resulting in a one-of-a-kind wonder. And now that wonder is in grave danger..." Romace/Action/Humour
1. Stage 2: Aggravation part A

**Title: **"Infecten - stage 2 - _Aggravation_" 1/2

**Author:** Nemesi.

**Fandom:** Rockman.EXE (MMBN)

**Genre: **Romance. Humour.

**Word Count: **2.824.

**Characters: **Hikari Netto (Hikari Lan), Rockman (Megaman), Blues (Protoman), Ijiuin Enzan (Chaud Blaze).

**Rating:** PG-13 for implied... intimate intercourse between consenting, cybernetic/virtual young males. XD;;

**Disclaimer:** Rockman.EXE, its characters, places and themes belong to Capcom, Shogakukan, ShoPro, TV Tokio, etc.. No copyright infringement is intended.

**Warnings:** Shounen-ai. Fluffy stuff between Navis. Also, (and I claim _ownership_ on this idea) Navi-preg.

**A/N:** Kane-Niisan wanted more. Neme-Niichan gives her more. 'nuff said.

**Summary: **"...this is ALL your fault!"

* * *

"...multiple overlay networks making independent routing decisions could experience race conditions, resulting in oscillations in both route selection and network load, which--" and then the door burst furiously open, nearly coming off its hinges, and Enzan didn't even _see _the boy, let alone his _fist,_ but suddenly he was sprawled on the floor and the sting was spreading across his cheek like fire.

"...this is ALL your fault!"

The words speeded out of Netto's mouth like a train from a tunnel (which had been about the speed of his punch, as well) as he towered above Enzan, red-cheeked and bright-eyed with fury.

"Hello, Hikari," Enzan remarked absently, as he gingerly poked and prodded his abused cheek. He rose to his feet with an economy of motion, and added: "You're dead, Hikari," in the same tone of voice he'd use to comment the weather.

And pounced.

Netto gave out a squeak of fear (if questioned later, he'll deny it, but you can trust me on this) and tumbled to the floor, Enzan on top of him and fighting like a wild cat. He was only dimly aware of Enzan's secretary herding the investors out of the office, of the door squeaking close and their excited hubbub dimming away, attention all focused on hitting Enzan as many times as he was being hit, rolling with him across the room - on top of him, the underneath, and then on top again - in a tangle of limbs.

No small amount of rolling, punching, kicking and biting later, the two boys stumbled apart, crouching at a safe distance and nursing their bruises. There was a minute of pure silence, during which they refused to break eye-contact for the simple reason that looking away would be a sign of weakness, then Enzan lost whatever ounce of patience he might have had.

"Would you be so kind as to tell me what's wrong with you?" he snapped out. "Or it's just that what little sanity you had, has left you for good?"

Netto pouted, realized that wasn't _quite_ the moment to feel offended, and bared his teeth.

"And you have to ask?!"

"Evidently."

"Enzan!"

"That's my name."

"Don't play dumb with me!"

"Listen." Acidly now, and not without cause. "I have no idea what possessed you to barge into my office, disrupt one of the most important reunions in my schedule, and assault me. I think I'm entitled to an explanation."

Netto narrowed his eyes.

"You don't know?"

"No."

"You really don't?"

"I said so."

"Well, I still expect you to take full responsibility for it!" As if that clarified things _any_. Enzan arched an eyebrow his way, dutifully confused.

"What _are_ you talking about?"

"I'm--" plunging his hand in his pocket, fishing out his PET and pushing it towards Enzan like a weapon of sorts, "-talking about your Navi taking advantage of mine and infecting him with a virus!"

"He _didn't_ take advantage of me!"

"_Blues_ is infective?"

"Are you all right?"

Three lines, three voices, thirteen words all jumbling together, since they were spoken at the same time.

It was kinda funny how it was the last, and most soft-spoken of all phrases, the one that caught everyone's attention. Maybe because it came from Blues, and Blues seldom spoke, and never in such warm, concerned tones, and especially _not_ from Rockman's PET.

Netto looked down, and saw Rockman spin around, three-feet in the air with shock, and come face to face with Blues, who'd taken advantage of the commotion to link himself to Rockman's PET.

"Blues! You just about gave me an heart-attack! What..."

"Are you all right?" Blues asked again, just as quietly as before. Rockman stiffened.

"I...err... y-y-y-_yes_. Why?"

Stuttering. And Rockman only ever stuttered if there was a ghost around, or if he was lying. Seeing as there were no ghosts in the neighbourhood, we can safely assume _he wasn't telling the truth_, no sir.

Blues must've reached the same conclusion, because the line of his mouth tightened, and the muscle of his cheek twitched dangerously. Rockman squirmed under the force of the scowl he _knew_ to be hidden behind the visor, and suddenly became fascinated with his boots.

"Rockman..."

Warningly. I'm-about-to-go-Advanced-Program-on-you warningly. Rockman squirmed.

"T-Truly," the blue Navi began, obviously set to say another lie. Unfortunately for him, Blues would have nothing of it. Reaching out, he cupped Rockman's cheek, which warmed up a little under his touch, and gently tugged Rockman's face to towards his own.

"Netto-san mentioned a virus."

Rockman bit his bottom lip, shifted his weight from one foot to the other, then surrendered to the inevitable. He grasped the hand still cupping his cheek, twined his fingers with Blues's own, pushing his face into the caress that really wasn't a caress.

"I've got ICL, Blues."

Soft voice, soft skin, soft eyes, full of emotion... everything about Rockman was soft, and warm, and so terribly, terribly nice, that Blues found himself leaning down and--

"--he got it from you, you know?" Netto supplied, before the Navis could get any closer, or the romantic tension get any higher. His was a tone of voice that promised extreme pain to the person addressed - namely, Blues. Aforementioned red Navi glanced up, gave the boy a once-over, then proceeded to ignore him altogether.

"I had gathered as much," he informed coolly. Pausing when Rockman's eyes grew wide and a little wondering, searching fruitlessly for his own through the visor. "I wasn't aware to be infected - if I was, I would have taken the necessary precautions -" read: would've abstained from touching you even with a stick, "-but I have no doubt on who infected you."

"Oh, _Blues_..."

"Ehy! Rockman's not the type to be unfaithful! It's _you_ who infected him!"

"That's what he said, dimwit." Enzan pushed Netto out of the way and peered down at the PET screen. "Blues's virus screening are clean, but he trusts Rockman enough to know he's been with no one else but him. Which means..." he paused, making everyone turn towards him. (truth be told, the Navis seemed to have some difficulty diverting their attention from one another, but we'll not get into that). "Blues, you must be a carrier."

Blues dipped his head in acknowledgment.

"I had reached the same conclusion, Enzan-sama."

"A what?"

"A carrier, Netto-kun." Rockman to the rescue. "It means he has contracted the virus agent, but he isn't affected by it."

"But he can transmit it to others." Netto scowled. "Just my luck!"

Enzan sighed.

"I second that."

"Oh, shut up you!" Netto poked Enzan in the chest. His left cheekbone was going to bruise, Netto realized with an interesting mixture of guilt and pride. "This is all your fault, anyway. So take responsibility for it."

"How is any of this _my fault_?"

"You let Blues do that to Rockman!"

"First, I couldn't have stopped this--" gesturing eloquently towards the Navis, arching both eyebrows for added effect, "--from happening even if I tried. Second, neither Blues nor I knew he was infected. Third, it's all your fault."

Netto gave out an outraged cry.

"_My_ fault?!"

"Yes. If you had kept a better eye on your Navi, he wouldn't have seduced mine and nothing of this would've happened."

"Rockman didn't seduce anyo--" There the Navi went, blushing _yet again_. Netto introduced his palm to his forehead, and groaned. "I can't believe it."

"He didn't as much as seduce me," Blues tried, once the chances of Rockman's cheeks blending with his armour reached 97 percent. "As... greet me rather... _enthusiastically_ when I returned from deletion."

Rockman worked his jaw, fishing for something - _anything!_ - to say. He glanced up, then down, then off to the side (as if expecting to find the right words flashing in neon-light somewhere inside his PET). Shrugging, he settled for the honest truth.

"He'd just come back from deletion, Netto-kun. _I _had just destroyed Gospel and frankly, seeing Blues alive was the single most beautiful thing ever happened to me." Another shrug, small, sheepish. He reached up, scratched his nose. He _was_ shy about the subject at hand, yes; but not in the least embarrassed by his conduct. "Before I knew it, I was in his arms and tugging his head down to mine for a kiss. And when we touched, there was this feeling, as if..."

...he was slipping slowly but surely into daydream. Highly-detailed, sugar-coated daydream! Counter-measures! Counter-measures! _Quick! _

Netto clamped one hand down on his PET's screen, not at all surprised when he saw Enzan's own hand clam over the mini-speakers.

"...I don't think I want to know the details!" Netto, shaking his head.

"Again, I second that." Enzan, bobbing his own up and down.

When Netto removed his hand, he saw that Blues was coughing discreetly in his fist, and Rockman had turned entirely new shades of red.

"Of course not, Netto-kun."

Netto wondered briefly if his Navi was going for a world record there, blushing so many times in a row, then sagged back into a chair, shoulders slouching.

"Aaaah, away with that frown, you. I told you already I'm all right with this. And I am! I just don't think this is a subject we should discuss, at least not in public, not where Enzan can hear-" insert an eloquent finger-pointing, here, "-and not while I'm still a minor."

It got Rockman laughing, and Netto realized with a smile he'd been missing the sound.

"Deal."

Netto nodded, then turned towards Enzan.

"Which reminds me, how is any of this even possible?"

There was a light that might, or might not have been amusement in Enzan's eyes when he said: "I thought you didn't want to discuss this? Especially - and I quote - not with me present?"

"Yeah, well, _bite me_. I'm curious." He tied his words down with a pout - because who could resist Netto with a _pout_? - and looked appealingly up at the other Net-Op. Enzan walked over to his desk and gulped down the last of his coffee, pulling a face when he realized it had gotten cold.

"You wouldn't understand."

_That _got Netto riled up, and ready to fight.

"I'm not stupid, you know!"

"I know." And this time, the glint in Enzan's eyes was definitely not amusement. His eyes were earnest, and bore no trace of mockery. Netto sank back in his chair, as pleased as he was confused.

"Then what did you mean?"

"Nothing more and nothing less than what I said - you wouldn't understand. Mainly, because no one does. Not completely." Enzan made a sound in the back of his throat, sharply raising a hand to tell Netto not to interrupt him. "It's not like someone ever _designed_ Navis for pleasure. But that capacity is not the result of a bug, either. You know that Navis have transducers that enable them to feel pain, right?"

Netto nodded. _Duh._ Of course he knew.

"Well, the pain circuit works like this: a sensor detects the energy, then a converter turns the voltage variation into a numerical parameter which is transmitted to the Navi's core. There, the parameter is encoded, the Navi feels the pain and reacts accordingly to it. With me so far?"

"Yup."

"Good." Sounding relieved; and if Netto wanted to go there, also proud. But Netto didn't want to go there. Definitely not. "Turned out that the pain-sensors are sensible to the other end of the spectrum as well. To be precise, they can react to pleasurable stimuli as well as painful ones. Like any other social creature, Navis decided to exploit this capability, and started to seek pleasures among themselves - oh, I _know_ Blues." This was addressed to the Navi, who was, for all the world, doing _nothing_, but a nothing that in some Blues-Enzan exclusive code obviously meant something. "Commuting, as they call it, is not merely a form of pleasure."

"Isn't it?"

Enzan shook his head.

"Apparently, commuting serves a deeper function, one of social nature. When two Navis commute they share their innermost, most intimate data. They open up their core to the other, and create a circuit that makes data, and electric signals, move from one to the other, allowing a deeper level of insight and generating pleasure at the same time. In some rare instances, this link becomes permanent, but there isn't much factual data about it."

Enzan paused. Considered.

"Well, there isn't much data about commuting, _period_. We know it's not a necessity, and it surely doesn't follow a cycle. It's an activity Navis engage in to establish and strengthen relations, usually permanent, but that's about al... _what?_"

"...my Navi is married to yours?"

_That _was when Rockman broke the world record on blushing.

Enzan flattened Netto with a glare, opened his mouth to explain that no, _of course_ their Navis weren't married, when it occurred to him that he really had no idea.

"...you know what? That's a good question." Personally, he had no knowledge of Navis bonding to one another in marriage, but at this point, he was ready to believe anything. Besides, he was curious. "So, are you?"

Blues didn't say or do anything. Well, his mouth _might_ have tightened, but it could just as well been their imagination. Rockman fidgeted.

"I... well... I don't _think_...I mean..." he threw a glance at Blues and, not for the first time in his life, wished the visor all kinds of misfortunes. _Just break, you stupid thing, or vanish, or become transparent or... or something! _"..._no_."

Netto put his feet on the chair, sat cross-legged and clasped his ankles, leaning towards the Navis.

"Ah... got it. He hasn't popped the question yet, has he?"

"Netto-kun!"

"Well, he should. I mean, the least Blues can do is make a honest Navi of you!"

"_Netto-kun_!"

"No, seriously, Rockman!" But he was laughing. Enzan wore a look that flickered from amusement to disbelief and back with uncanny speed.

"I can see it already, the whole thing. He'd go down on one knee..."

"Netto-kun! _Please!_"

"...and bring out the ring... would Navis use rings, Enzan?"

"Beats me." A shrug. "But I can have the lab make a custom-chip."

"Right." Netto tapped his lips. "Where was I? Oh, yeah, the _ring_. And then we'll have to fix the wedding outfits..."

"Netto-kun..." feebly now, with his face turning redder and redder. Blues noticed Rockman's distress, and frowned.

"Netto-san, could you please..."

But Netto was chattering on and on, unstoppable like water breaking from a dam, hands fluttering wildly around and managing to get even _Enzan_ to smirk and laugh every so often, and all the while Rockman was protesting, PET-processors cranking up at top-speed, voice getting weaker and weaker, cheeks glowing red, eyes bright, and then, suddenly, he was swaying precariously, and he would've hit the ground hadn't it been for Blues's Faster Than Lightning Reflexes (he was just that good, yes).

Netto scrambled to catch the PET, brought it up to his face and shook it frantically. Without a word, Enzan took the PET from him, held it up and out of Netto's reach. As Netto bounced, bounded, tiptoed and whined, Enzan explained that jumbling Rockman like that could hardly help, told Netto he would have the PET back once he calmed down enough, and reminded him to breathe, Hikari, _breathe_!

Netto did as he was told. Once his breathing had evened out, Enzan grabbed his hand, and reverently put the PET down on his palm.

"Rockman?"

"...all good, Netto-kun."

The truth, more or less. He was still unable to stand, and was sprawled on Blues's lap, managing to somehow look pale and feverishly red at the same time. But at least he was conscious. Netto clutched the PET tighter.

"I'm sorry. I knew ICL makes you weak, and that your PET is always overheating, but I still went and riled you up for no reason--"

Enzan looked at him with a flash in his eyes.

"What did you say?"

"T-that because of ICL, Rockman's PET has been almost constantly in overheat." He held the PET in front of his face again, squinting into the screen. "And he's always moody."

Enzan made a noise in the back of his throat, sounding worried.

"Constant overheat, weakness and moodiness? Anything else?"

Netto shook his head, paused to consider, and gave a nod.

"He's always sleepy, and his processor works way too much - which is actually what causes it to overheat."

Enzan made another worried noise, and something in Netto's brain began wailing in alarm, telling him that Another Bomb Was About To Be Dropped On His Head.

"What? What is it?"

"Netto..." Carefully. Probing. Softly, yet with an edge of steel. Netto's knuckles turned white around the PET. He swallowed.

"...y-yes?"

"Those aren't the symptoms of ICL." Netto eyes grew huge, so very huge. "Rockman may have caught it, but there must be something else affecting his systems."

Oh, they had no idea.

**- TBC**


	2. Stage 2: Aggravation part B

**Title: **"Infecten – stage 2 – _Aggravation_" 2/2

**Author:** Nemesi.

**Fandom:** Rockman.EXE (MMBN)

**Genre: **Romance. Humour.

**Word Count: **2.240.

**Characters: **Hikari Netto (Hikari Lan), Rockman (Megaman), Blues (Protoman), Ijiuin Enzan (Chaud Blaze).

**Rating:** PG-13 for implied… intimate intercourse between consenting, cybernetic/virtual young males. XD;;

**Disclaimer:** Rockman.EXE, its characters, places and themes belong to Capcom, Shogakukan, ShoPro, TV Tokio, etc.. No copyright infringement is intended.

**Warnings:** Shounen-ai. Fluffy stuff between Navis. Also, (and I claim _ownership_ on this idea) Navi-preg.

**A/N:** Kane-Niisan wanted more. Neme-Niichan gives her more. 'nuff said.

**Summary: **"What's wrong with Rockman?"

* * *

Step, step, step, step, step, step, step, step, step, step, step, reach the end of the room, turn, and repeat: step, step, step…

"Will you _please_ stop pacing?!"

Enzan resisted the urge to hit Netto with a random blunt object just barely. To his credit, Netto _did_ try to comply with the request. Alas, there was only an unnoticeable falter in Netto's pacing, before it started anew.

"I can't. How is it coming up?"

Enzan gritted his teeth in frustration, muttered something barely intelligible, and went back to his typing. Netto had been so shocked, and damn him for thinking it, his pout so persuasively irresistible, that Enzan had volunteered to help. At first he had hoped to find the cause of Rockman's distress with a virus scan. Sadly, it didn't work. As the hours went by, the effect of the pout began to wear off, and Enzan found himself becoming steadily more frustrated at his failure.

Hopelessly curious yeah, but frustrated.

_At least_, Enzan mentally told himself, _a pacing Netto is not as bad as an hyperventilating Netto who rips contracts and papers to tiny shreds_.

And so, step, step, step, went Netto.

And type, type, type went Enzan.

The Navis, currently screened on Enzan's main PC, turned from one boy to the other, from one to the other, as though watching a tennis match.

When the tension reached the boiling point, Netto trotted up to Enzan, leaning over his shoulder to peer at the data scrolling down the screen.

"What's wrong with Rockman?"

The distress in Netto's voice gave Enzan's pause. He glanced longingly for his coffee mug, wished it filled to the brim with the hot, spicy brew, and rubbed his temples.

"I'm running all kind of diagnostic on his systems, Netto." _I've been for the last three hours. _"But I haven't discovered anything we didn't know already." Reaching out, he tapped an area of the screen. "These are the files infected with ICL. I cannot delete them because they've seeded themselves inside Rockman's core, but I _did_ quarantine them." There was quite definitely something he was missing there, but what? "The PET processor is working at almost twice the normal speed, and it's odd, because there's nothing that justifies this level of activity. Moreover, almost two thirds of the PET's energy are being redirected towards areas that should but idle, depriving Rockman of strength."

"That explains the sleepiness and the weakness, right?"

"Yeah. Still…"

Netto's fingers tightened around Enzan's arm, but the other boy hardly paid it any heed, he was so deep in thought.

"Still?"

"_Why _is the PET working this much? What kind of data is being processed in these… _wait._" Enzan leaned forward suddenly, eyes narrowed in thought, obviously having noticed something of relevance. Netto was – literally – right beside him, cheek-to-cheek with Enzan and scanning the monitor just as eagerly.

"What is it? What?"

Enzan made a sound way too small for the impact his revelation was about to have on Netto's life, and tapped another area of the screen.

"These subroutines. They had escaped my notice before because they look familiar, but… that's _exactly _the reason why they shouldn't be here." Quickly, he opened up another window and summoned the Navis onto it. "Blues, I need you to show me your source code." Said, done, and the source code was opened in a second window. "Rockman?"

"Hai?"

"Could you give me full access to your central processor? And I mean _full access._"

Rockman threw Enzan a dubious glance, then turned towards Blues. There was a small, encouraging smile on the red Navi's face – either that, or it was a trick of the pixels – that spurred Rockman on.

"Right away, Enzan."

Rockman closed his eyes, and another window popped open on the screen. A series of algorithms began flashing on both the newest windows, and Enzan compared them speedily, occasionally taking notes. His jaw dropped open in surprise approximately three seconds into the job, and remained there the whole time.

After a while Netto – who was still clinging to Enzan's neck, you realize – began whining.

"What is it? What did you find?"

"Netto…" and that was, at least, the third time in a row that Enzan spontaneously called the other boy by his name, and neither noticed. "…call your father. Now."

With a finality that left Netto no other option that unglue himself from Enzan, throw himself bodily at the desk and compose Sci-Lab's number.

* * *

"I take you found it?"

Not exactly what Netto had expected to hear from his father, but the serene tone of his voice helped to calm his nerves some. Enzan narrowed his eyes.

"_Of course_ I did. What surprises me is that you found it, seeing you don't have the PET."

Yuuichiro chuckled.

"I searched the virus-scan reports, and noticed the file right after Netto came to see you," he said. "Amazing, isn't it?"

Enzan snorted.

"If _that_'s how we want to call it."

"You realize we might be facing the greatest cybernetic breakthrough since the invention of Navis, don't you?"

"Yeah, but…" the scientist in Enzan was giddy with excitement. The twelve-year-old part of him was thinking something more along the lines of 'why does it have to be _my_ Navi?'. Stuck in the middle, Enzan opted for massaging the bridge of his nose, wished for more coffee, and expelled a sigh. "What are we supposed to do with it?"

At this point in time Enzan was graced with a poke in the side, courtesy of Netto.

"What are you talking about? Did you find out what's wrong with Rockman?"

It wasn't often that you saw Ijiuin Enzan at a loss for words. Sure, he always preferred silence to idle chatter, but he never, _ever _was just too overcome to explain himself.

Today was the exception.

"Netto…"

Netto clung to his vest, trying to look brave.

"Just tell me. I'm… I'm ready for everything."

Enzan cradled his forehead.

"Not for this. Netto…" pausing. Collecting his thoughts, choosing his words carefully, trying, hoping, not to be too blunt but informative enough, and obviously taking too long for Yuuichiro's liking, who took the matter in his own hands.

"There is a Navi developing inside Rockman's PET."

Enzan groaned. Netto gaped. One minute of shocked silence followed, before the whole of IPC had to cower under the force of Netto's shocked:

"_WHAAAAAAAAAAAAT?_!"

Once the ringing in his ears had subsided, Enzan dared to peel his eyelids up, and saw Netto with his jaw on the floor.

"But… but that's _impossible!_"

"Not so much, at least not in theory," Enzan racked his fingers through his hair, made a mental note to introduce Hikari-hakase to the marvels of tact later on, and put his hands up in a placating gesture. "Remember when I told you that, during commuting, Navis share data?"

"Yeah?" Eyes narrowed, shoulders hunched up, looking for all the world like a cat ready to pounce.

"Well, once the connection is closed, some residual data lingers inside the… well… the Navi that was on the receiving end of the transmission." Had anyone told Enzan that one day he would discuss the Navi equivalent of flowers and bees with Hikari Netto, he would have them taken to the psychiatric ward in an instant. Life _really_ works in mysterious ways…

"When the Navis upload themselves back to their PET, the data, being incomplete and raw, is cleaned away automatically by either the firewall or the anti-virus program. But…"

"_BUT?_"

"…but my guess is that ICL made it impossible for Rockman's systems to find and delete the data in time. As you know, that particular virus slows down the processors, and hinders the data flow."

"But-- but Papa didn't talk about data! He mentioned a Navi! _A Navi_, Enzan!"

"I'm getting there. Do you have the first clue how Navis are programmed?" Netto shook his head. "To create a Navi, a programmer will write down a sequence of codes and algorithms. During commuting, data and algorithms from both Navis meet and mix, creating a similar sequence. Remember the subroutines I glimpsed inside Rockman PET? They belonged to _Blues_, that's why they looked familiar. They got inside Rockman's core, combined with his own, and created what we could call the first draft of a new program. Since it's nowhere near finished, it was saved with a temporary extension, and stored in a folder right inside Rockman's core."

"But my father said it's _developing._"

"Yeah, about that." Enzan cleared his throat. "Judging by the data-log, the file has been worked steadily on since its creation."

"…which means?"

"That more commutings followed the first_._ This is just my theory, mind you, but…if I'm right, each time that Rockman uploads himself to his PET after an… err… _encounter_ with Blues, more data is added to the file, until it'll eventually be completed. Once that happens, the PET will recognize the program as executable, and you'll… well, you'll have two Navis in your PET."

Silence.

More silence.

More of the same.

And a little more on the side.

"…what do we do, now?"

Having had the world crashing repeatedly upon him since morning, Netto had reached a state of numb shock, one for which Enzan was deeply grateful. He motioned for the other boy to take a seat, then took one himself.

"I'm not sure. It's not like we have several courses of actions to choose from."

Netto frowned.

"What do you suggest?"

"The choice is simple. Either we let the Navi develop to its fullest and have a PET made for it, or we dele--"

"HELL, NO!"

Netto and Rockman and Yuuichiro, in splendid unison, though the latter omitted the curse word.

So much for numb shock, Enzan thought grimly.

"I didn't say we _should _dele--"

"NO!" tri-chorused again.

"I don't care what you think, you're not _killing_ that poor Navi!"

"My thoughts exactly!"

"That would be unethical, and morally wrong."

"Listen, I was merely saying that dele--"

"_NO!_"

The scene repeated itself three more times or so, before Enzan was finally able to explain that he did _not_ want to delete the developing file, but was merely listing the option as feasible.

"As Hikari-hakase pointed out, despite being the result of pure luck, this _is_ the greatest cybernetic breakthrough of the last fifteen years." Enzan shook his head, either to clear it from shock, or in denial. "Navis possess the ability to reproduce. Who would've thought?"

"If the Navi inside Rockman's PET is successfully completed, it might revolutionize the whole concept we have of cyber life," said Yuuichiro.

Netto hummed in agreement.

"Yeah, but… shouldn't we ask, you know, _the parents'_ opinion?" Enzan blinked, forcing Netto to elaborate. "It's not like the file can be completed if Rockman and Blues don't… _you know_… more. And it's their choice, whether they want to stay together or not."

"Good point. Rockman? Blues? Your thoughts, if you please?"

Caught unaware, Rockman was unable to mask the look of pure anguish on his face. He didn't know what he wanted to do. He just knew what he did _not_ want.

He didn't want to delete a poor, undeveloped Navi.

He didn't want the newborn Navi to become some lab's guinea-pig.

He didn't want to be studied and prodded, his privacy invaded, his relationship disrupted.

He didn't want Blues to stay with him only because Enzan wanted the file to reach full development.

…but he didn't want – he couldn't take it – if Blues _left him._

He tried to say as much, but words evaded him.

"I… _I…_"

"With all due respect, Hikari-hakase," Blues began, in a matter-of-factly, no-nonsense, clean-cut, don't-mess-with-me-or-else tone. "Deleting our child is out of the question. As for its completion, it'll happen in due time."

If Navis had had the ability to faint in relief, Rockman would have. The two Hikaris looked pleasantly impressed. Enzan merely surprised – his infamous eyebrow reached heights unheard of.

"You two _are_ married, as Netto suggested?"

Blues shook his head.

"I am afraid we Navis don't get married, as humans do. We commute – that's our idea of lifelong commitment."

…_definitely_ about to faint with relief, here. Or to latch onto Blues like a leech. Both urges were equally as strong. People were led to believe that there was a language barrier between Blues and the rest of the world, but the truth was he could convey more with a single line or gesture, than people could in a million years.

In a handful of words, Blues had managed to commit himself to Rockman, reassure him, hint to where their relationship was going, convey to everyone just what exactly he thought of the file ("our _child_…!" Rockman thought giddily), threw in a side-warning not to mess with it, and a thousand other things. Had Rockman been human, his heart would have been beating at about one-hundred-miles-per-hour speed, and his knees would have been weak.

Not that they _weren't_, but that's beside the point.

Then, Netto burst out laughing all of a sudden, which kinda threw everyone off. At least until he managed to wheeze out the reason of his mirth.

"W-w-w-with th-the l-l-l-look on your f-face, Rockman, one would—would t-think you were ab-about to… to… l-leap into… into B-Blues's arms, or m-melt at his fe-feet or s-s-s-_something_."

And then Enzan hid his (smirking) face in his palm, Blues shook his head, Yuuichiro chuckled and Rockman blushed. All back to normal.

**- Stage cleared.  
****On to the next? (y/n)**

To BunnyBell: I wanted to thank you for your reviews, and since doesn't allow me to answer anonymus messages, I'm doing it here. I also wanted the say... it's true that Infecten is the first ever fic to ever deal with Navi-Preg, bbut the ownership comment was said in jest, I promise. XD;;


	3. Stage 3: Overflow

**Title: **"Infecten – stage 3 – _Overflow_"

**Author:** Nemesi.

**Fandom:** Rockman.EXE (MMBN)

**Genre: **Romance. Humour.

**Word Count:** 1831.

**Characters: **Rockman (Megaman), Blues (Protoman).

**Rating:** PG-13 for implied… activity of the most pleasurable kind between two male Navis. X3;;;;

**Disclaimer:** Rockman.EXE, its characters, places and themes belong to Capcom, Shogakukan, ShoPro, TV Tokio, etc.. No copyright infringement is intended.

**Warnings:** Shounen-ai. Fluffy stuff between Navis. Also, (and I claim _ownership_ on this idea) Navi-preg. Severe OOC, but for this stage, it was done _on purpose_. Un-betaed.

**A/N:** Overflow - the stage in which symptoms become more pronounced.

**Summary: **Months upon months in this relationship, a child on its way, and _that _was the first time the "L" word was ever uttered between them.

* * *

Rockman, usually, was one happy Navi. It took little to please him and much to enrage him. He was naturally inclined to forgive, and readily forgot the wrongs inflicted upon him. It was only rarely that Rockman was _not _a happy Navi. And when that happened, a dozen or so viruses paid the expenses.

Per second.

One dozen viruses _per second_.

At the very least.

But as rare as the sight of an unhappy Rockman was, there are taped records of it, honest. On the other hand, an unhappy, grumbling Rockman with tears in his eyes, a sting in his palm where he'd slapped Blues and his face the colour of strawberries was an novelty. Still virus-deadly, but a novelty nonetheless.

Presently, the severely unhappy Navi was stomping along the net — tears, sting and all — navigating across corrupted areas, firing at random viruses that were unfortunate enough to cross his path, and generally being grumpy.

Mentally, he was having a private conversation with himself, in which he was told to stop acting childish, to which he replied that the strain of carrying the new Navi in his PET was getting to him. He was told that Rockman didn't cry, and he agreed, pointing out that he was not the crying type, he was the _killing viruses_ type, and that he even had one Big Bad Black Wolf in his bounty list to prove his might, whatever Blues might say on the matter.

At this point in time the voice in his mind tutted, put its palm to its cheek (Yeah, he'd got very bodily voices in his head, thankyouverymuch) and shook its head ruefully. It reminded him that Blues had just wanted to help, and reproached Rockman for _socking_ his boyfriend.

Funny how the rest of Rockman's brain went immediately silent, at that comment. His body froze on the spot, as realization sunk to fill the sudden silence. Now that he thought about it… right before he had stomped away in a huff… hadn't he introduced his palm to Blues's cheek…? And we're talking about a pretty intimate introduction, here. Fierce and fast and accompanied by no words or explanation to assuage the sting.

Rockman swirled immediately around, ready to fly back home like the wind and with a string of apologies already on his tongue. However, his mad dash was cut short before it even began. Turning, he slammed nose-first right into…

"…Blues?"

"About time you stopped."

Rockman grew pink at the remark. Meanwhile, some very un-Blues thoughts popped up inside Blues's head, each concerning the levels of cute a blushing Rockman could reach.

Not that Blues would ever refer to anything as "cute", mind you. At least not out loud. But he was an honest enough Navi to realize the truth of the matter: Rockman's picture must have been in the dictionary right beside the word 'cute'. And this allowed himself the usage, if only in the privacy of his own mind.

He caught Rockman's hand, which was fluttering agitatedly in the vicinity of his face, and gave it a gentle squeeze.

"Blues, I'm sorry I hit you! I don't know what came over me, I just…"

"Hush now." Short words, but not unkind. "It's all right."

"No, it's not!" And here Rockman stopped, sniffling. He pressed his lips together, and searched Blues's face with eyes that were dewed with tears. "I didn't mean to get so upset, I didn't mean to hit you, I didn't mean to leave like that, I didn't mean to…"

"I'm fine, and so are you. This is all that matters."

"Truly?"

"Truly."

"Promise?"

"Promise."

"You aren't angry?" Rockman's puppy dog look only needed the addition of a waggling tail to get perfect. Blues gave his head a small shake.

"I am not. Though I wonder why _you_ were …"

Ouch. Blues regretted his comment the exact moment it left his mouth. He _distinctly_ saw a vein pop on Rockman's forehead. With a mental sigh, he steeled himself for the upcoming cataclysm.

3…

2…

1…

"_Why?!_" Rockman exploded, right on clue. "You wonder _why_?! With what you said back there, you're lucky I stopped myself after one single _slap_!" which, for the record, had stung like crazy. Rockman's hand still throbbed from the impact with the helmet.

"What did I say that was so horrible?"

Rockman made a sound of great, great dismay.

"You said I'm _weak_!"

"I did no such thing."

"Did too! You said: give me all of Rockman's cases, since he can't handle them!"

"No. I merely suggested you take some time off your job as Net-Saviour."

"See? You don't trust me!" Rockman threw his hands in the air. "You think I'm weak! You think I'm an idiot who can't do his own work!"

"I think you are a Navi who's experiencing _severe_ mood swings…"

"I'm _not_!" Going from being angry to small and trembling and kittenish in 0.1 seconds, which proved Blues's point majorly.

"…whose power levels are halved and constantly fluctuating…"

Insert a pout here.

"…and whom I _can't _afford to lose."

Rockman's face was such a medley of reds, it looked like a peony in bloom. Scratch that, a whole _bush _of peonies in bloom. That had to be about The Most Romantic Thing Blues had ever told him.

…and there weren't devices around to record it! _Damn!_

"So…" Rockman clasped his hands behind his back, began to draw bashful circles on the floor with his foot. He looked up at Blues through his lashes, and gave him the warmest, most brilliant smile in history. "…you don't think I'm weak?"

"On the contrary. I _know_ you're powerful."

"And I'm not stupid?"

"Naïve and foolishly brave, but never stupid."

"You were just worrying about me?"

Blues heaved the sigh of all sighs and asked:

"When ever have I done anything _but_, since I've known you?" throwing in an eyebrow hoist for added effect, but alas! the visor kinda ruined his effort.

Rockman blushed. Translated from Blues to English, that last, seemingly innocent phrase actually meant: 'You've always been important to me, even from the very start, and I _need _to keep you safe, Rock', endearment and emphasis included.

Which only made Rockman feel guiltier about the slap.

"Oh, _BLUES_!" was about all the warning the other Navi got before he was latched upon, tackled to the ground and squeezed like a teddy bear. "_I love you too_!"

Now please take a moment to notice that, months upon months in this relationship, a child on its way, and thatwas _the first time_ the "L" word was ever uttered between them. Knowing Blues and his less-than-average emotional response, one would expect him to go ramrod stiff at the revelation. And yet, the one who was instantly turned into stone was Rockman himself.

Now why, in the name of whoever was appropriate to call upon here, did he go and say _that?! _It was obvious they weren't ready, it was obvious Blues would think him foolish, and naïve, and childish, and he just had to go and add that little "too" at the end, didn't he? That made things soooooooo much worse, it actually implied that Rockman presumed to know Blues's feelings better than Blues himself, when there hadn't been any hin--but right when he was on the verge of going system error, Rockman felt Blues's arms go around him. His head was tucked gently under Blues's chin.

"I know."

Soft. Gentle. Perhaps a little knowing. Not shocked in the slightest but rather… _relieved_? No. Blues's voice actually vibrated with something akin to _amusement_, as if he'd been running bets on when Rockman would say it.

Rockman had to remind himself that there were things that Blues would never do, that having fun at his expenses was one them, and that he'd be _really_ sorry if he did sock Blues right that very instant. His hand could take only so much abuse, after all.

Then it clicked. Rockman was getting better at the task of translating Blues to common language, but he was still new at it, so sue him for not realizing it sooner. The words "I know," said with _that_ inflection, that small, imperceptible lilt at the end and the hesitation at the beginning was a book case of: "I thought you'd never tell me."

Turned out he _really_ was relieved.

"Blues…"

"Me too."

Which was one of Blues's roundabout ways to say "I love you" without actually saying the words out loud. Thinking back, it wasn't even his first try at it. It was surely part of what promised to be a long string, though.

As for Rockman's reaction to that, you know by know what it could've been.

Yup.

His face took on the most _interesting_ shades of red. His core began misfiring like woah, giving out a jumble of mixed signals, so that Rockman was torn between laughing and crying and blushing (more) and talking and hiding and… well, and napping and recharging, but those were the child's subroutines speaking, so they don't count.

He froze – fatal-error like froze – unable to speak, unable to move, to _breathe_, processing speed raising steadily, generating heat. Luckily for them both, Blues knew the One And Only Patented Way To Snap Rockman Out of Feedback Loop Errors.

He reversed their positions, pinned Rockman to the ground, cradled the back of his head and pressed their mouths together.

It worked like a charm.

Only, maybe a little _too well_?

A whole lot of time later, Blues buried his face in the crook of Rockman's neck – a neck that would have been deliciously flushed and moist with sweat, had they been human – and pressed his lips there.

"Are you aware that if you upload yourself to your PET now, our child will probably be completed?"

Rockman hummed an agreement, still lost somewhere above the rainbow where all was light and candyfloss, and oh-so-sweet sparks of purple electricity ran across his body. The notion of never coming back from such heights played at the back of his mind for a loooooooong while. Once he regained enough sense to process Blues's words though, he stiffened.

Blues smiled – and let me tell you in all honesty: when he does that, without his visor, hair spilling like a silver halo around his face, he _really_ is breathtaking, no doubts there.

Once Rockman was done with his statue impersonation, he sagged back like a boneless thing. He took a few deep, calming breaths, then said…

"Airisu."

Blues didn't lose one beat.

"Axl."

"What? No way! You _know_ I like Airisu better."

"Mh. We'll name him Axl."

"Airisu."

"Axl."

"Airisu."

"Axl."

"Airisu."

"Axl."

"And who says we're getting a boy?"

"Says the source code."

"Well, I still like Airisu better."

"Axl."

"Airisu."

"Axl."

"A-I-R-I-S-U!"

And so on and so forth, until drastic measures had to be taken, and the chance of Airisu/Axl being completed as soon as Rockman went back to his PET reached a brilliant 100 percent.

* * *

**- Stage cleared. **

**On to the next? (y/n)**

1: Airisu: Japanese spelling of Iris. There's a character by the same name in the Rockman X series.

Axl: There's a character by the same name in the Rockman X series.


	4. Stage 4: Manifestation part A

**Title: **"Infecten – stage 4 – _Manifestation_"

**Author:** Nemesi.

**Fandom:** Rockman.EXE (MMBN/MMNTW)

**Genre: **Romance. Humour.

**Word Count:** 1432.

**Characters:** Blues, Rockman, Roll, Rush, Glyde, Gutsman, Netto, Enzan.

**Pairings: **Blues/Rockman.

**Rating:** PG-13.

**Disclaimer:** Rockman.EXE, its characters, places and themes belong to Capcom, Shogakukan, ShoPro, TV Tokio, etc.. No copyright infringement is intended.

**Warnings:** Shounen-ai. Un-betaed. Navi-preg (and I claim _ownership_ on this idea). OC.

**A/N:** At this stage, the disease becomes manifest, and a specific diagnosis can be made. I THINK I skipped a stage but… oh, well.

**

* * *

**Dictionary definition of peace: 'the normal freedom from civil commotion and violence of a community; public order and security.'

Check. There were no crazy scientists looming on the horizon, no giant viruses on rampage, no major threat in sight. All was well in the Cyber World. Good.

Definition n° 2: 'state of tranquillity or serenity'.

Check. Roll was feeling at the top of her spirits, that fine day. Flanked by Glyde and Gutsman, and trailing after an over-enthusiastic Rush, she really couldn't ask for anything more. (Well, maybe that camcorder custom-chip Meiru had promised her would've been a nice addition; but the day seemed perfect on its own, and Roll had never been the greedy type.)

Definition n°3: 'silence; stillness.'

…Ops! Nope, sorry. This definition really doesn't fit our current situation any.

Net City was bustling with activity: Navis dashed about on different errands. Some of them were tall, others scrawny; some humanoids, other with animal features. There were pink Navis in maids frocks, pint-sized kids with elfin faces, giants with leonine heads, metal wings or metal bodies, moving, talking, waving, tittering, here uproarious, there sombre, some huddling in small groups to chatter, others walking with a skip in their step, with an almost constant stream of smaller data scrambling among their feet.

Our foursome didn't share the same apparent hurry of their fellow Navis, and instead strolled along — occasionally speeding up to catch up with Rush – enjoying the rare, _rare_ peace as defined at points #1 and #2 above.

They were chatting idly, trading banter and small gossip about their Net-Ops, when a streak of red bolting in their peripheral vision caught their attention.

"Ehy, isn't that…" Roll trailed off, eyes narrowing in thought. The streak of red, she noticed, was obviously in search of something in the crowd. Wanting to help, she threw a hand in the air, cupped the other around her mouth, and hollered: "Blues! Ehy, _Blues_!"

Which caused the streak of red to grind to a sudden alt, turn around and dash towards her.

"Roll," Blues dipped his head politely at the girl. "Glyde, Gutsman." He made a pause, as though trying to collect his thoughts, and then added: "I'm afraid I cannot explain the situation as of now, but have you seen a small Navi, dark blue armour with red inlaids, and a helmet with white attachments that strikingly resemble a feline's ears?"

Now, saying that Blues sounded frantic would have been a lie. His voice just wavered slightly, and his breathing hitched once. It was still enough to set off a whole _horde_ of warning bells inside Roll's head.

As far as she knew (and it was her duty to know everything about her friends; how else was she supposed to support them in their need, otherwise?), as far as she knew, nothing – be it a life-or-death situation or a Virus the size of skyscraper – had ever caused Blues to loose his poise, however slightly. To slip not once, but _twice_ in a matter of seconds, he had to be beyond himself with either worry, fear, or some other equally powerful emotion.

Roll took a moment to search her data banks – as well as quench her rising worry – then shook her head.

"I haven't, but…"

Blues muttered something we _hope _wasn't a curse, and shot away, looking frantically about.

Roll was officially worried, now.

It was no secret that Blues wasn't the friendlier Navi in the Cyber World. But _rude_? That wasn't like him. He was cold, yeah, and had an attitude. But he had _manners_, too. He wasn't The Second Most Sought After Navi of the Net without a reason. (First being Forte.EXE, and mainly by the Net-Police)

She wondered what could have affected him so much, played a handful of worst-case scenarios in her head, and summarily decided that, whatever had happened, she wasn't going to like it one bit. What if…

"Roll-chan! _ROLL-CHAN!_"

The foursome spun around, and was met with the sight of Rockman running towards them, flushed and frantic and waving like a drowning Navi to get their attention.

"Roll-chan! Roll-chan!" Rockman pounced, grabbed her by the shoulders – she thought she heard the sound of her teeth rattling as he shook her – and proceeded to go into panic-mode. "I've got no time to explain, but have you seen a young Navi, with a red-on-blue armour, and cat hears on his helmet?"

Now _that_ sounded familiar. Wasn't that the very same Navi Blues was looking for?

Roll carefully pried Rockman's fingers off her shoulders and shook her head, interest more than a little piqued.

"I haven't, but…"

"Thanks anyway!" The words hadn't even left his mouth, that Rockman had already disappeared among the crowd, somewhere in the opposite direction Blues had gone.

Roll blinked.

Gutsman blinked.

Glyde blinked.

Rush barked.

_And _blinked.

"…what was that about?"

Their only answer was the silence – well, metaphorically speaking, at least. It wasn't like the buzzing racket of Net City had lowered any.

* * *

Hours passed. Things happened. Navis met and parted, and all that stuff. But as the day approached its closure, Rockman and Blues's hunt still continued, hopeless and completely fruitless. They'd scanned, searched, explored, questioned, probed, prodded and turned upside-down the four corners of the Cyber World, and their quarry _still_ eluded them.

Now, where the blinking heck had that kid gone? And just what kind of troubles was he in? To say that they were beyond themselves with fear would be the understatement of the century. They hadn't been THIS scared even during the whole Dark Blues accident, and that was saying something.

But worry none! Luckily (are we sure about that?) for our digital heroes, someone else was doing some searching of their own in a rundown area just above the Uranet. Namely, we're talking about…

"…are we sure about this?"

…Glyde,

"Sure we're _sure_. If Rock-kun and Blues are looking for this Navi, then it must be important that he's found."

…Roll,

"And find him we will, de gutsu!"

…and Gutsman.

With Rush bounding a little ahead, sniffling about.

"See Glyde?" Roll remarked, flashing Gutsman an appreciating smile. "_That_'s the spirit!"

Gutsman ducked his head and scanned a crumbling ruin to their right, trying all the while not to blush. As always whenever Roll was concerned, it didn't quite work.

Glyde rubbed his temples. Navi don't get migraines, but that gesture, so small and so human, surely helped to vent a little stress.

"If I might… We've been at it for _hours._"

"Your point being?"

"I have a bad feeling about this."

Roll puffed out her cheeks. Not that she didn't share Glyde's thinly veiled concern, mind you. But if she, the appointed leader of the search party, showed the least sign of uncertainty, the whole "Find Kitty-Ears" operation would blow.

"A bad feeling isn't a good excuse not to help our friends!"

"True. But we might want to _know_ _who_ we're searching for, and _why._"

"We are searching for a young-looking Navi, probably not so tall, that wears a dark blue armour with red inlaids, and an helmet with cat ears on top. And we're doing it to help Rock-kun and Blues-kun."

Blues-_kun?_That gave her pause. It had always been plain "Blues", before, hadn't it? Somehow, the amicable suffix had attached itself to his name on its own, and refused to budge._ When did that happen? _She wondered.

"I still think we should notify our Operators, and gather more data."

"Oh, hush you. That would cost us time, and who knows what could happen while we aren't online?"

"Maybe the crisis will resolve itself without our aid?"

At that point in time, Glyde was the recipient of a look Roll seldom used, but that was deadly, _deadly_ persuasive. There wasn't anyone in a mile radius who didn't cower. Glyde capitulated quickly, and conceded defeat with an elegant:

"But I suppose it's our duty as friends to keep searching at the best of our abilities."

Nodding her approval, Roll skipped a few steps ahead, and coaxed and prodded Rush until the dog-shaped search program was on its paws and running again.

Truth be told, Roll wasn't usually this stubborn. But she had the feeling that finding this mysterious, kitty-eared Navi was of utmost importance for Blues-kun and Rock-kun. And something in her programming made it imperative to help her friends any way she could.

…

…besides, she felt like she was completing a jigsaw puzzle, and missed just one little piece to give sense to the whole picture.

And she never was one to resist the allure of puzzles…

**- NOW LOADING...**


	5. Stage 4: Manifestation part B

**Title: **"Infecten – stage 4 – _Manifestation part B_"  
**Author:** Nemesi.  
**Fandom:** (MMBN/MMNTW)  
**Genre: **Romance. Humour.  
**Word Count:** 1758.  
**Characters****:** Roll, Rush, Glyde, Gutsman, and "Kitty Ears" :3.  
**Pairings: **Blues/Rockman.  
**Rating:** PG-13.  
**Disclaimer:** , its characters, places and themes belong to Capcom, Shogakukan, ShoPro, TV Tokio, etc.. No copyright infringement is intended.  
**Warnings:** Shounen-ai. Un-betaed. Navi-preg (and I claim _ownership_ on this idea). OC.  
**A/N:** At this stage, the disease becomes manifest, and a specific diagnosis can be made. I THINK I skipped a stage but… oh, well.  
**Summary:** ...hold on a second. THAT was Kitty-Ears?

* * * * *

The four walked on for another handful on minutes, when suddenly Rush perked his ears, gave a few warning barks, and froze in a hound-like pose, tail held strait and pointing forward with his nose and paw. Roll's eyes widened, and she skipped forward with a cry. Gutsman was hot on her heels. Glyde only a little behind, having taken a second more to recover from the surprise.

Roll rounded a corner at top speed and… stropped. Just like that. Which caused Gutsman to bump into her, and Glyde to bump into him. Rush managed not to add itself to the Navi-sandwich but barely, instead skidding head-first onto the nearest wall available.

Roll couldn't believe it. There before her Kitty-Ears stood (well, _squatted_), playing happily with a…

"…don't touch that THING!"

Roll's cry of surprise caused Kitty-Ears to look up – green eyes… why were those green eyes so _familiar_? - and the reptilian virus he was holding to roll on the floor, feet up and kicking in a comical attempt to regain its footing. The thing was dealt a combined blow by Glyde and Gutsman faster that you could name their attacks, and dissipated in a shower of pixels, which Kitty-Ears evidently found pretty, seeing that he tried to catch them as they flew by.

A little disconcerted, Roll let her motherly subroutines take over, and approached Kitty-Ears with her hand outstretched, murmuring quiet reassurances all the while. Kitty-Ears tilted his head – Roll thought he was about to sniff her hand when it came close to his face – and voiced no objections when she knelt down and began to check him over for any sign of damage.

Up close, those green eyes of his where even more familiar. Heck, up close _everything_ about the kid was familiar – green eyes, spiky hair, blue as his outfit's dominating colour… Roll would've said that Kitty-Ears was a little clone of Rockman, if not for the fact that he was a little clone of Rockman _during his soul unison with Blues_. There were differences, of course, and huge ones at that. The armour was poles apart, for starters. And he had no blade. Still, the resemblance was undeniable and unmistakable: Kitty-Ears was a blend of all that was Rockman and all that was Blues, compressed in a slender, overtly-cute, armoured package with cat-ears extensions on his helmet.

The question: "Who are you?" escaped her lips without consulting her brain first.

Kitty-Ears grinned – she did _not_ just think it looked like Netto's grin… did she? - and poked himself repeatedly on the chest.

"I Axl, Oneesan! _Axl!_"

A quick look in her data banks confirmed that he was no virus, and that no Navi by such name was in the Net-Police wanted list. Good.

"I'm Roll. This is Rush…" who was currently sniffling Axl all over and waggling his tail happily, "…and these are Gutsman and Glyde. Nice to meet you."

Axl waved, politely if not a little over-enthusiastically.

"Hi!"

Squealed.

No, seriously.

He made a _squeal_. The likes of which would make a fangirl's pale in comparison.

Roll shook her head at whoever had programmed the kid, and helped Axl to his feet. The poor thing had the speaking capability of a four-years-old human, and a personality to match! What was his creator _thinking_?

"What are you doing here? This is a dangerous zone, heavily infected! Is your Operator aware of your current location?"

When Axl turned towards Glyde, his eyes, as well as his mouth, were shaped into huge "O"s.

"…I no have an Operator."

There was a collective gasp.

"You don't?"

"No."

"No?"

"Uh-uhn."

"You sure, de gutsu?"

Axl nodded his head so quickly he _must_ have got dizzy, and then added:

"But I have an Ojichan. And an Ojiisan too!"

Wait.

Rewind.

"…you have an _uncle _and a _grandfather_?"

Another dizzying nod later, Axl elaborated:

"Yes! But Ojiisan says Axl should call him Ojichan, because he is no much older than Ojichan, but Ojichan says it's fun to call Ojiisan Ojiisan, 'cause it irks him."

…yeah, well, he _did_ elaborate. I never said he also _made sense_.

"…Right. Uh. Err. How long have you been active again?" Axl struggled a moment, eyebrows furrowing together in the cutest way. Getting the feeling she might have to work with simple concepts here, Roll rephrased her question. "I mean, how old are you?"

Brightening, Axl held up two fingers, then looked expectantly at Roll, as if to say: "Well? Decipher it already!".

"Two years?" Axl shook his head. "Two months?" Negative. "Two _weeks_?"

"Uh-uh! I was born two weeks ago!"

Roll had to smile at the way he phrased that – he thought Navis were born instead than being activated? How _sweet_! - and decided not to correct him. Metaphorically taking the kid under her proverbial wing — as well as physically putting her arm around his shoulder — Roll pulled Axl to her and a little to a side. As highly unpractical as it were, she was starting to find his sugar-high toddler personality very endearing. Her motherly subroutines just couldn't resist it.

"How about we take you back home to these Ojichan of yours, mh?"

Axl smiled – which would have caused any lesser Navi than Roll to need a pair of shades, it was so brilliant– and reached new and untold levels of _cute_.

"Pwease? I want home, but I don't know the way! And the mommy of that pet…" he gestured towards the spot where the virus had evaporated into pixels, "…wouldn't let me go."

Gutsman scratched his head.

"Viruses don't have mommies, de gutsu."

Axl was shocked.

"Do too!"

"They don't, de gutsu. Navis don't have daddies and mommies either, de gutsu."

"Do too!"

"Do not, de gutsu."

"Do _too_!"

Axl looked like he was about to cry – or the way Rockman did after seeing a ghost, anyway. Pale, with his eyes huge and his mouth pressed into a trembling line. Eeping slightly, Roll leaped forth and clamped a hand onto Gutsman's mouth. A small, whispered quarrel ensued (Roll _refused_ to raise her voice, because who knows how much it could upset the kid?), and then Glyde noticed, and repeated, the _one_ single piece of useful information Axl had supplied with his ramblings.

"…there _was _a mommy that was keeping you here? Pray tell, _what _mommy?"

As if on cue, a giant head peered up from behind the wall, and gave a massive roar. Axl squealed, pointed, and even bounced a little on his toes.

"_THAT_ mommy!"

"…oh…"

"…my…"

"…_RUN!_"

As Roll gave the order, Axl was caught by the waist, summarily hoisted under Glyde's arm and carried away. I suppose I don't need to tell you that the giant reptilian virus – aka, "The Mommy" – immediately gave chase.

Axl squealed, delight evident in his voice.

My, but that was almost as fun as swimming through Ojiisan's password-coded files! Or being bounced by Ojichan while in his PET! He _totally_ wanted to know when they were doing this again.

The other Navis weren't having as much fun, as they sprinted through the net at neck-breaking speed. Uhm, actually they weren't having fun, _period_. Up and down and left and right and in dizzying circles they went, the Virus hot on their heels.

Truthfully, they had no idea how long they were at it, conscious only of the road before them, of the virus behind, and that they needed to eat as much of the above not to be eaten by the second. But a suitably long amount of time later – during which an exciting escape scene took place – they were _still_ running, and the virus was _still_ giving pursuit.

"What are we supposed to do, now?!"

"I don't know! Outrun him?"

There wasn't too much hope in Roll's voice when she said that.

"Gutsman can take it down, de gutsu!"

"No _WAY_ I'm letting you face that thing without Dekao! It'd be too dangerous! You could get hurt, or worse!"

Gutsman kept running at top speed. His efforts not to blush t Roll's concern were about as successful as his previous endeavour not to blush at her smile.

"Then what?"

Roll supplied Glyde with another of her "looks".

"We keep running?"

The virus gave another roar, swishing its tail about (yes, it had a tail) and making the ground tremble under its scaled, fanged, clawed, tailed weight (just to give you a general picture of its looks).

The three Navis (plus one search program) doubled their already incredible speed, almost blurring out of view.

"What to do, what to do, what to do… THERE!" At Roll's cry, the Navis veered to the right, dived into a low passage and hoped… _nope_. The virus crashed right _through_ the data wall, still hot in pursuit. Roll gave a out a frustrated scream.

"Could someone _please_ do something?!"

Anything, really.

REALLY.

And Axl gave a whine.

"Roll-Oneesan! Are we going home, now?"

Because sure, it was fun, but he was tired and sleepy, not to mention that he wanted his parents about NOW.

Roll spared the kid a sweet, if hurried smile, and dodged a couple of energy-shots, courtesy of the virus behind her.

"Of course, honey. As soon as that virus-" jerking her thumb over her shoulder "-decides it's had enough of running."

There was a slightly awed expression on Axl's face when he said:

"_That_ a virus?" As though realizing it _now_. Then, brightly: "My Daddy always makes viruses go away!"

"Sure thing, honey."

Run, run, run.

"No, really! When it's time for sleep mode I get scared, so Daddy looks in the shadows, and kills all evil viruses so they can't get at me while I sleep!"

Run, dodge, run, run.

"…yeah."

Dodge.

"No, really! It's Daddy's job!!! He's a Virus Slayer, you know? He's a hero! He waves his arm at the viruses like so--" he demonstrated "—then screams SONIC BOOM!! And the viruses go puff!"

…which is exactly what happened to the virus behind them. Axl had waved his arm around, screamed SONIC BOOM at the top of his digital lungs, and mommy-virus had gone "puff".

Roll skidded to a sudden alt and whirled around, gaping incredulously at the fountain of pixels that had once been a monster-virus.

"What the…?"

It then occurred to her to glance at Axl, and she was shocked to see that his arm had morphed into what looked like an upgraded version of Rockman's buster… a buster that could release _Blues_'s most powerful, wind-based attack.

Axl looked down at its new addition and blinked.

"…_Oooops_?"

**- NOW LOADING…**


	6. Stage 4: Manifestation part C

**Title: **"Infecten – stage 4 – _Manifestation part C_"

**Author:** Nemesi.

**Fandom:** (MMBN/MMNTW)

**Genre: **Romance. Humour.

**Word Count:** 1897.

**Characters****:** Roll, Rush, Glyde, Gutsman, Netto, Enzan, Rockman, Blues and Axl.

**Pairings: **Blues/Rockman.

**Rating:** PG-13.

**Disclaimer:** , its characters, places and themes belong to Capcom, Shogakukan, ShoPro, TV Tokio, etc.. No copyright infringement is intended.

**Warnings:** Shounen-ai. Un-betaed. Navi-preg (and I claim _ownership_ on this idea). OC.

**A/N:** At this stage, the disease becomes manifest, and a specific diagnosis can be made. I THINK I skipped a stage but… oh, well.

**Summary: **She would have very much liked a and highly-detailed explanation, possibly complete with pictures, of who the blinking heck Axl was.

* * * * *

"What if he's been kidnapped? What if he's been found by Wily? Or Forte? What if he wandered into the Uranet for that matter? What if Serenade found him? What if--"

"Netto?" Enzan pressed a hand to Netto's face, strategically placed to shut his mouth and keep his nostrils free. "_Breathe._"

"…he's been attacked by a virus?" Came from the desk. "Or fell into a loop error somewhere? Or got lost? Or met Gospel? Or---"

When the rest was muffled, Enzan released a grateful sigh and thanked his Navi. Blues looked up, hand firmly clamped over Rockman's mouth, and inclined his head in acknowledgment.

"Any clues on Axl's whereabouts?" Enzan asked.

Blues drew in a harsh breath, pressed his lips together. Unbeknownst to everyone present, behind the cover of his visor his eyes were squeezed shut, his eyebrows drawn together in a look of pure agony.

"…no, Enzan-sama."

Rockman sagged against him at that moment, slipped his arms around Blues's waist and tucked his head underneath Blues's chin. Seeing this, Netto wrenched his mouth free from Enzan's hand, slipped from the couch and knelt down at eye-level with his PET.

"I'm sorry, Rockman! He was in his PET, and I looked away for just one second, I promise! I have no idea how he managed to link himself to the net!"

There was a muffled sound, some shuffling, then one of Rockman's green, green eyes became visible, as did the corner of his pained smile.

"He must have discovered the infrared. He's a clever kid, isn't he? And such a handful…"

Rockman trailed off into silence, and Blues enclosed his arms about him, slowly, gently.

There was a moment of vile, chocking silence, then Enzan knelt down as well. His hand squeezed Netto's shoulder for a brief moment, so brief it was almost imagined, before it slipped back into its pocket.

"We should've paid more attention to him," Enzan began. "You left him in our care, and we managed to lose him. What we did was inexcusable. However…" Enzan's eyes were flames. They were lakes. They were gems. Clear ad bright and fiery in their intensity. "…we won't give up. We'll keep looking. Until we _find him_."

And the quiet strength in his voice was reassurance enough for everyone. Suddenly, there was no doubt that Axl was all right, and that he _would_ be found. Seeing that his words had done their intended job, Enzan nodded once, rose to his feet and went over to his PC. Netto watched him go, moved and more than a little impressed, then bounded after him with a smile and a cry of: "Wait! I'll help!"

Enzan slowed for a fraction of a second – more than enough time for Netto to catch up with him – and the boys continued together towards the desk and terminal, sharing ideas and inputs. Well, Netto doing the sharing, and Enzan lending half an ear.

There was a small fight over the chair, and a few minutes of getting settled before a hush fell over the room. In the heavy silence, the thrill of Netto's PET, heralding the arrival of a Navi or the other, should've been immediately noticeable. But with Netto and Enzan flirting – I mean, quarreling – no! I mean, _searching _the net at the other end of the room, and with Rockman and Blues reassuring one another in hushed whispers, none was the wiser.

* * * * *

Home – well, _Rockman_'s home — at last!

Roll had never been happier to be in a PET that wasn't her own. She couldn't wait to hand Axl over to Rockman, in return for a full and highly-detailed explanation, possibly complete with pictures, of who

the

blinking

heck

Axl

_was_.

A secret IPC project? Intriguing, but very unlikely. IPC labs would never base one of their custom Navis on Rockman. Could Axl be one of _Sci-Lab_'s projects instead? That would shed light on the buster and the uncanny resemblance with Rockman. But it failed to explain Axl's ability to use the Sonic Boom, as well as all those characteristic he shared with Blues. The third option was the scarier of all – Axl had been developed by neither IPC or Sci-Labs, bur by either Net Mafia or the WWW terrorists lead by Dr. Wily, by combining the data of the two most powerful Net-Saviours of all times.

Was Axl a future Net-Saviour? Or was he a threat, with his immensely destructive power, and easily gullible nature? Was he a friend, or a foe?

The one around which all of Roll's questions revolved around was currently as unaware as he could get. He'd been moved from under Glyde's armpit and hoisted to his back a while ago, and was in the middle of a long-craved nap. In sleep, his resemblance with Rockman seemed to magnify itself, and yet… that was Blues's mouth, wasn't it? And the proud line of his chin. And if Axl moved his head just so, Roll swore she could see Blues in his profile.

Glyde readjusted the weight on his back, snapping Roll out of her musing.

"He's out like a light." Whispered, as not to wake his charge.

"He must've used all his reserves of energy against that virus, de gutsu."

Roll nodded, distractedly. Axl mumbled something in a soft voice. His curled fist contracted once, as a shadow passed over his face, then relaxed.

"He's amazing, isn't he?"

Stated more as a fact than a question. Roll felt an attachment to the child, something like fraternal or motherly love, and it would've been surprising, were it not that she was influenced by his obvious resemblance with her friends. She'd always felt a connection with Rockman – as thought they were siblings, but someone had forgotten to notify them – and now that connection was spreading slowly but surely onto Axl.

_Axl, Axl,_ she thought. _Who _are_ you?_

Shaking her head clear, Roll pressed her lips together and turned, determined to get answers, and to get them _now_.

Her eyes alighted almost immediately on Rockman and Blues, and Roll felt her cheeks warm up at the sight of them, though she couldn't really figure out why. It wasn't like she'd never seen them that close – they'd developed a habit of touching 24/7 as of late, not to mention that Blues had a tendency to _always _be around when Rockman was out like a light and needed to be carried – bridal style or not – to safety. Actually, their current position classified as one of The Least Compromising she'd ever caught them in.

Presently, Blues had his arms wrapped comfortingly around Rockman, and his cheek placed on top of the blue helmet. In turn, Rockman was clinging to him by the waist. As usual when she watched them, she had this _feeling_, as though they were two pieces of a puzzle that lo and behold! fit perfectly together, and formed a picture that made more than sense, and was more than just right.

Rockman pulled himself away after a moment or two – not much, but just enough to tilt his head up and gaze into Blues's face with an intensity that made Roll's inner fangirl go into hysterics. They looked so much like a couple right then, she was going to _melt_. Or cheer. Or cheer as she melted into a puddle of Roll-goo. Yeah, that was the most probable outcome.

You see, Roll usually didn't advertise it, but she _was_ a closet yaoi enthusiast. And one of the rabid kind, too. It was all Meiru's fault, if Roll had contracted the yaoi-virus; hers and of her doujinshi scanlations.

Oh, if only she had that camcorder chip she'd been promised! Then Roll would put the Kodak moment down, lock it in a jar, put it under her pillow, and gaze at it every night before she went to sleep (yes, she was THAT obsessed with yaoi). The levels of cute those two could reach together went beyond her wildest dreams!

Even as she watched, half-mesmerized and half-melting, Blues cupped Rockman's face and began to trace circle with his thumb across the flushed cheek, so slow and tender in his ministration, so sweet, so loving. Turning, Rockman brushed Blues's thumb with his lips, kiss-like, and murmured something from around it.

Blues leaned down, silver hair spilling like a curtain around them, just as Rockman leaned up. Their lips were close, _so close_, Roll realized as she fought down a squeal. Close enough for them to feel the other's breath waft and move against their mouth. And then, closing his eyes, Rockman slipped his hand behind Blues's neck, buried it in his rich silvery hair…

…ARRRRRRRRRRRRRGH! The _envy!_ Roll would've _died_ to touch that hair – she would've died for it _period._ How come Blues got the superstar hair, while she was stuck with a plastic-like addition? – and here Rockman was, playing with it as if he _owned_ it.

Life just wasn't fair.

Concept that was further proved when Axl chose that moment to wake up, shattering the pre-kiss, sweet-loaded Kodak moment into itsy-bitsy tiny pieces.

"…DADDY! PAPA!"

Rockman and Blues leaped away from one another as if burned, and spun around towards them.

Now give me one thousand words, and seven days to put them in the right order, and I _might_ be able to convey the joy and relief that sprung to Rockman and Blues's faces.

'Might' being the keyword.

Axl scrambled off Glyde's back, hurried across the PET and pounced. Rockman and Blues caught him mid-air, and the young Navi somehow managed to wrap one leg about each of them, and to loop his arms around their necks, which made for the most awkward hug _ever_.

None of the three seemed to care, or notice.

Axl was currently chanting "Daddy" and "Papa" at top speed, inserting here and there random excerpts from his day, such as "I met a virus!" and "it went puff!" and "Rush let me pet him!".

Rockman was plain and simply overcome with emotion. So much so that Blues seemed like the only thing that kept the Navi pyramid from toppling over.

A window suddenly popped up above them, and Enzan and Netto, worried by the commotion, showed up. Two-seconds time, and the apprehensive look on their faces melted into ecstatic joy (Netto) and sombre relief (Enzan).

"AXL!"

"Netto-Ojichan! Enzan-Ojiisan!"

"…Axl, please, refrain from calling me _that_. Enzan-Ojichan is more than all right."

"But Netto-Ojichan says he likes it when I call you that, 'cause you get all red and flustered!"

"Does he, now?"

"So sue me for wanting you to show some kind of human emotion."

"Is anger human enough for you?"

"Enzan-sama, I'd appreciate if you kept the usage of violence at a minimum in front of Axl."

"And Netto-kun, you should know better than riling Enzan-kun up on purpose."

"But Rockman..."

It's amazing, how they'd slipped into their normal routine, worries forgotten, the moment the lost piece of their little family had been returned to them. However, they should've remembered that their routine had, as of now, an audience of four.

Roll cleared her throat loudly, which caused everyone to freeze. She waited until she had everyone's attention, then arched an eyebrow as pointedly as she knew how.

"…'daddy' and 'papa'?"

In her agenda, it meant: Explanations. _Now._

And she wasn't going to accept a 'no' as an answer.

**- NOW LOADING…**

[1]: in the Classical Saga, Roll and Rockman are siblings for real, and I just couldn't resist the reference. 3


	7. Stage 4: Manifestation part D

**Title: **"Infecten – stage 4 – _Manifestation part D_"

**Author:** Nemesi.

**Fandom:** (MMBN/MMNTW)

**Genre: **Romance. Humour.

**Word Count:** 1574.

**Characters:** Roll, Rush, Glyde, Gutsman, Netto, Enzan, Rockman, Blues and Axl.

**Pairings: **Blues/Rockman.

**Rating:** PG-13.

**Disclaimer:** , its characters, places and themes belong to Capcom, Shogakukan, ShoPro, TV Tokio, etc.. No copyright infringement is intended.

**Warnings:** Shounen-ai. Un-betaed. Navi-preg (and I claim _ownership_ on this idea). OC.

**A/N:** At this stage, the disease becomes manifest, and a specific diagnosis can be made. I THINK I skipped a stage but… oh, well.

**Summary: **She would have very much liked a and highly-detailed explanation, possibly complete with pictures, of who the blinking heck Axl was.

* * * * *

"…and then, approximately two weeks ago, Rockman notified us that the file was about to be completed. We made the necessary arrangements, and connected Rockman's PET with a blank-slate device. When Rockman uploaded himself back to his PET, the temporary file became executable. It was transferred to the empty hard drive and… well, you know the rest."

Now that they'd tucked Axl to sleep (AND checked him all over, AND cuddled him, AND pampered him, AND read him a story AND let Rush cuddle against him AND promised him everything short of the moon itself AND, of course, disabled the _DAMN INFRARED_) Rockman and Blues linked themselves to Enzan's laptop, arriving just in time to catch the end of his speech.

The two crept inconspicuously into an empty corner of the screen, and surveyed the various degrees of shock playing over the faces of their friends. As odd as it may sound, the silence in there was absolutely _deafening_, and rushed and roared in Rockman's head like the howling of a pack of wolves. For a whole handful of minutes, the only noise in the laptop was Rockman's sharp intake of a breath, released when Blues took hold of his hand and gave it a squeeze.

After no small amount of embarrassed immobility from everyone, Enzan flicked his hair out of his eyes, and glanced questioningly at Netto. Netto shrugged, signalling he had nothing to add to Enzan's speech, and tilted his head towards the laptop. Enzan narrowed his eyes. Netto retaliated by raising both eyebrows. Enzan scowled. Netto pointed to the screen. Enzan pulled back his lips and frowned. Netto tilted his head once, twice. Enzan fought off the temptation to refuse (nice how they could communicate without words like that, eh?) and gave a reluctant nod.

"Questions?" he asked.

Roll raised her hand, the perfect student.

"I have one."

"Yes, Roll?"

Ignoring Enzan, she rounded on Rockman with a speed the likes of which would have made Blues envious, and pointed a menacing finger at him.

"…you got together with Blues and didn't _tell me_?!"

A major sweat-drop moment later, Rockman said:

"Err… yes?"

_With _the question mark at the end.

"How COULD YOU! I thought I was your best-friend! You should have _told me_! And what about Axl? You had developing Navi in your PET – a DEVELOPING NAVI – and didn't confide in me! What if something had happened?! What if you'd needed me and I couldn't be of any help BECAUSE YOU HADN'T TOLD ME THE TRUTH?!" Rockman was so small by now, you had to _squint_ to see him. "And you!" Roll added, turning sharply towards Blues, pointing finger and all. "Lower that eyebrow. _Now._"

Blues did as instructed, though how she'd managed to know about his eyebrow forever eluded him.

"Yes, ma'am."

He would have tried a mock-bow then, but he wasn't particularly interested in testing his limits as of now. He couldn't allow himself the luxury of being suicidal. Not when he'd just become a father.

"_Good._" The finger was lowered, and peace reasserted itself over the small group.

Enzan shook his head.

"…any _other_ question?" he asked. "Glyde? Gutsman?"

"Well, I have some technical questions, but they can wait for a later time," confessed Glyde. Gutsman just scratched his head, eyes two dots of the utmost confusion.

"…how could Rockman have Blues's child, de gutsu? Isn't he a _boy_, de gutsu?"

"I'm afraid you're thinking in terms of human pregnancy, Gutsman." Enzan began, only to be interrupted by Netto.

"Yup. With Navis it's different. Your gender is only _apparent_, so it doesn't really matter much."

"Apparent…?"

"What he's trying to say," Enzan intervened smoothly. "Is that Navi are programmed to _look_ either male or female; but being comprised of cybernetic data you are, in true essence, of neither gender."

"Yup." Ball's back I Netto's court. "For a long time, it was believed that you Navis were actually… what was the word again, Enzan?"

"Asexual."

"That one, yeah."

"Bu Hikari-hakase has put forth the theory that Navis are actually _hermaphrodite_."

"Meaning," Netto held up one finger with the air of someone who was about to repeat a often-listened, well-learned lecture. "That whichever partner you choose, you could have children."

"_If_ the conditions that lead to Axl's conception can be recreated."

"Don't be a spoilsport Enzan. But yeah, _if _Axl isn't a one-of-a kind-miracle, then you-" finger-pointing the Navi as he mentioned them "-Glyde, could have a child with either Gutsman or Roll, no problem."

"At least in theory."

"Papa's still studying the whole thing. Trying to find out if any Navi can have kids and all."

"Or if that's a prerogative of Rockman, and of his human DNA."

Glyde, Gutsman and Roll blinked owlishly at the two humans for a while. A few seconds of this, and they snapped out of whatever musing they were having, ducked their heads, avoiding eye contact with one another and blushed. Enzan turned towards Netto, one eyebrow raised in enquiry.

"I thought you didn't want to explain this?" which was part of the silent conversation they'd had before.

"Yeah, well, you looked like you didn't want to do it alone." Also true.

Enzan dipped his head in thanks, and turned back towards the Navis.

"I'm sure you realize this must stay a secret?"

Glyde 'mmh'-ed. Gutsman nodded. Roll lost her embarrassed flush in favour of a narrow-eyed glare. She put her hands on her hips and frowned at the humans towering above her.

"Aren't you going to tell our Operators?"

Enzan shrugged.

"Why should we?" he began. But his cool act was ruined when Netto pushed him off-screen (and off the chair, as well), and looked earnestly down at Enzan's laptop.

"We will, Roll."

And then he was pushed by Enzan.

"We won't."

Push.

"We will."

Push.

"We won't."

Push.

"Yes."

Push.

"No."

And a glaring match ensued.

Roll rubbed her temples, fought off the temptation to remind the author of this fic that Navis weren't _supposed_ to have migraines, and sighed.

"Fine. We won't tell. But…" and she whirled on Rockman at this point, poking him eloquently on the chest with each word she uttered. "You. Are. Going. To. Tell. Our. Operators. Is. That. _Clear?_"

"Err… yes, Roll-chan."

"Can we at lest know why you are so adamant about that?"

Blues pushed himself away from the wall he was leaning against, and advanced towards the girl. Roll sucked her bottom lip between her teeth and chewed nervously on it, eyebrows drawing together.

"It's just… it'd be safer, if more people knew about Axl, wouldn't it?" she shook her head, mildly frustrated at her sudden incapability to communicate. "Had we known about him from the start… you could've asked for our help today. We could've split up, and found him in no time. Besides…" how to explain the rest of her thoughts? "He's… he's unique, Blues-kun. He isn't just the only Navi who was ever _born_, instead of being programmed. He's also powerful – I told you about his Sonic Boom stunt, didn't I? – you said he's going to mature, and I suppose he'll learn to take care of himself just fine, but… his potential will always make him a target for just about anyone with evil intentions. I guess… it'd be… _safer_… if he had friends…in both the real world and Cyber world… who knew… the truth about him…and could… _help_?"

She ended with an hopeful note in her voice, all the while telling herself off for failing to make a good point. But right in the middle of her mental self-beating, Blues surprised her with a (le gasp!) smile and a nod.

"You are right. There's strength to be found in numbers. And we've been worried about the Net-mafia or Wily getting their hands on Axl from the very start. Informing your Operators might be the best course of action, after all."

"Thanks for your concern, Roll-chan." Rockman squeezed her hand gently, and with a smile that she couldn't help but mirror with one of her own.

"Anytime, Rock-kun."

What were friends for, after all?

Roll allowed herself a moment to feel all warm and fuzzy inside; then she tilted her head to a side, with an impish smirk spreading slowly across her face.

"And how exactly are you going to buy my silence, mh?" she sing-songed.

"What? But _Roll-chan_…!"

"Well, it's only fair! I saved your son-" she conveniently omitted the fact that it was Axl who'd saved them all, in the end, "-brought him safely back home, agreed not to divulge the biggest gossip of my lifetime… don't I get anything in return?"

Blues glared at her so intensely she _felt_ the heat of his eyes moves across her skin.

"Name your price."

"Oh, I just…" she began, airily and innocently enough. "...want to touch that _hair_!"

And, before the red Navi could reply (or run) she had pounced, all but gluing herself to Blues and burying her hands in his hair.

The commotion that followed her hazardous move was hardly describable – what with Blues being outraged, Roll being awed and giggly, Rockman and Gutsman being jealous, Glyde and Netto being amused, and Enzan holding onto his quickly-slipping composure with teeth and nails – but frankly, Blues and Rockman should be _grateful that _Roll hadn't asked for their pictures, or some other random yaoi material involving them, instead.

Oh well, she figured she'd have other chances to ask for _that_…

**- Stage cleared. **

**On to the next? (y/n)**

Ahhh… so far, writing this has been _SO_ fun. But I'd like the next stage to have a bit of action in it; I want to introduce more characters and elements from various Rockman sagas, and develop a little (LE GASP!) actual _plot_. What do you say? :]


	8. Stage 5: Maturation part A

**A small warning before we begin. In this stage, the story retains most of its general goofiness and silliness. However, there**_**will**_** be serious scenes, as well. There'll be battles, small traces of drama scattered through, and touches of angst have been added here and there, in order to make our ride more interesting. ;))**

**There's also going to be someone using a…uhm… rather colourful language… later on. You'll see. XD;;;**

**Title: **"Infecten – stage 5 – _Maturation 1/?_"

**Author:** Nemesi.

**Fandom:** (MMBN)

**Genre: **Romance. Humour.

**Word Count:**.

**Characters/Pairings: **Blues/Rockman; Netto, Enzan, Axl mainly. Others mentioned.

**Rating:** PG-13.

**Disclaimer:** , its characters, places and themes belong to Capcom, Shogakukan, ShoPro, TV Tokio, etc.. No copyright infringement is intended.

**Warnings:** Shounen-ai. Un-betaed. Navi-preg (and I claim _ownership_ on this idea). OC.

**A/N:** In this stage, the disease fully develops into a chronic condition.

**A/N 2:** The original Infecten took place in the anime timeframe (right after the Gospel Arc). But as I worked on Stages, I began to add in a few elements from the videogames and the manga storylines (for example: Serenade is mentioned in Stage 4; Wily is listed as one of the possible threats because he's seen as a bigger/more dangerous villain than in the anime, etc.). More of such elements will be added in the chapters to come – for example, Netto and Rockman ARE twins, like they are in the games; and I might have Blues equip the Z-saber or the Muramasa sword like he did in the manga.

Besides, a peculiarity of the Rockman anime/videogame series is that in each there are references to the others - in fact, our own very Axl is the Exe-fication (is that even a word?) of a character from the Rockman X series. (by the way, you can see our dear , cuddling with Daddy Blues and Papa Rock at the following url:). For this stage (onward) I plan to incorporate a few more "foreign" elements from other Rockman series, such as the X and the Zero.

Wish me luck? :3

**Summary: **Life for them was running smooth, and the Cyberworld was at peace. Axl was growing up happily with his family, and… oh! But… are those dark clouds I see gathering on the horizon…?

* * * * *

Enzan woke up the first time because his coffee mug, slipping from his sleep-relaxed fingers, collided with the floor with a resounding "thud".

He surveyed the mug through bleary eyes, fought to keep his eyelids up long enough to check it hadn't been damaged by the fall, then fell back asleep.

The second time Enzan woke up, it was because Sakurai Maaya, his secretary, was calling him through the intercom, informing him discreetly that 'you have a guest, sir'. Enzan didn't even dignify it with a response, he was so sleepy.

Third time he was woken was, as they call it, the charm. Meaning it was the time he woke up once and for all. The door to his office was slammed open, all the lights were turned on all at once, and footsteps clattered ominously towards him.

"Oh, for the love of all that's… _ENZAN!_"

And here Enzan found himself hauled by his feet by an enraged someone, who gave him a few shakes for good measure.

"I THOUGHT you promised you'd slack off a little?!"

"…what?"

Enzan's brain, being still a little fuzzy at the edges with sleep, had absolutely no idea what this spiky-aired, orange-vested, blue-bandanaed blurry shape before him was talking about. Aforementioned shape puffed out its cheeks in the most adorable – err, threatening way it knew how, and poked Enzan repeatedly in the chest (his other hand remained fisted around Enzan's shirt, basically being the only thing that kept him on his feet).

"I'm talking about the amount of work you've been shouldering, Enzan! _Amount that you'd promised to reduce, _so that you could enjoy the wide world outside, you know, the one with people and all?"

Enzan rubbed his face and hid a huge yawn behind his palm, being way too polite do it in anyone's face, be they a blurry shape or not.

"I had an emergency…"

"And that makes it, like, _the tenth this week_?"

The shape was positively _fuming_ by now. Enzan regained coherency enough to glare at it… however, the effect was far from threatening. It was either because Enzan was fresh from sleep, or because he hadn't had time to build up his usual wall of cool detachment yet, but he looked more… _adorable_ than anything. Kittenish, if you will. The shape fought down a grin, overcame it but barely, and glared back at Enzan very very hard.

Actually, the glare helped Enzan regain some of his scattered sense. Just an ounce or so, mind you. But enough to recognize who he was dealing with (Hikari Netto), what must've happened (he'd spent the night working, and then fallen asleep at his desk AGAIN, forgetting one of those stupid dates—err _meetings_ Netto insisted they had); and last but not least to boost his glare and form coherent words to go with it.

"Just… _exactly_ what are you doing here, Hikari?"

"Making sure you don't kill yourself with overwork." True. Ever since Axl was born, Netto had been fighting valiantly to keep Enzan from the perils of work. He also made sure to kidnap Enzan from his office every now and then, so that Axl could have some quality time with both his Ojichan. "And why are we back to "Hikari" anyway? You _know_ my name's Netto."

"I'm going to withhold the use of your first name until you stop being a pest."

"Hikari it will be then, because I'm nowhere near done _pestering_ you. When was the last time you had something other than coffee for lunch, mh?"

Even as Netto poked him insistently on his protruding ribs, Enzan gave the matter some serious – and I mean _serious_ - thought. His eyebrows furrowed, his mouth tightened. Once he'd located his answer, two tings happened: his eyebrows climbed up his forehead and went to lodge somewhere under his fringe, and his mouth dropped open.

"I think… three days ago?"

Netto's cry of dismay was followed by a brief hug, and then Enzan found himself being dragged out of his office by his arm. In-between a stumble and a trip, he tried to voice some protests. "Tried" being the keyword, since most of his efforts were cut off before they left his mouth.

"IPC needs me, I can't just up and leave…"

"So much good you'll do to IPC if you keel over and die of hunger."

"That would only happen if I was starving myself. Which isn't the case."

"Like hell it isn't. And I bet you aren't stressed, either."

"Stress? What is this thing you speak of?"

"Ah-ah. So _not_ funny, Enzan. You need to work on your sense of humour. Maaya-san?" Netto called as soon as he rounded the corner, and Enzan's secretary's desk loomed into view. "Enzan will be taking his lunch break, now."

At precisely 9:45 in the morning. Totally unfazed, the girl looked up from her work, eyes tinkling with barely-restrained mirth, and countered Enzan's baffled gaze with a cheery wave.

"Of course, Netto-kun. Should we expect him back anytime soon?"

"…mhhhhhhhhh… _no_. Actually, don't expect to see him before tomorrow."

"What?! _NETTO_! I need to--"

"Hush you. You _so_ have no voice in the matter. Can I count on you for a cover story, Maaya-san?"

The girl tapped her index finger against her lips, then nodded. Please take a moment to notice that her hair was a bright pink. That's all. Thank you for your cooperation. You can now turn back towards the still gaping Enzan, and the steely-eyed Netto.

"How about this?" Maaya began. "The President had to leave because of… err… _pressing matters_ involving his Net-saviour duties, and won't be back until tomorrow."

"Sounds good."

"Very well, then. I'll see you two tomorrow. Oh! And take good care of him for us, will you?"

"You bet, Maaya-san."

And then Netto speeded up and was out of the building before Enzan could do anything about it.

* * * * *

"…curry."

Enzan couldn't have sounded any more deadpan even if he'd tried.

Netto recoiled defensively in himself. Pouting dangerously, he waved the spatula at Enzan, causing a rain of sauce to fall his way. Thanks to his Navi-like reflexes, Enzan dodged, and his clothes were saved. Netto's own clothes had never been at risk, because he was wearing his mother's pink apron over them.

"Well, _excuse me_ if I can't do fancy French cuisine."

"…you kidnapped me, dragged me across the city all the way to your house, and made _curry_?"

"You should be thankful I was willing to do all that!"

"I am. I guess. Grateful, I mean."

"And the least you could do is than—_what_?"

Netto made a show worth of an Oscar or two of his shock. Enzan countered it performing an Academy Award eyeroll.

"In some ways I don't understand myself I _am _grateful for your concern. It's your forceful ways I cannot really digest."

Netto's pout reappeared on his lips.

"Well, _you_ try dealing with _you_ with any other method than _force_."

There was a quirk of Enzan's lips - not a smirk, not a smile, but definitely something – and a warm sparkle appeared in his blue eyes, making Netto smile.

It immediately crumpled when Enzan spoke again, though.

"I'll keep that in mind, _Hikari_."

"Oh, by the… my name's NETTO!"

And the spatula went round again, and again it rained sauce on the table.

Enzan countered by dipping his fingertips in his glass, and flicking water at Netto. That, Netto knew, meant _war_.

Which is why the boys were suddenly rolling across the floor, clutching at each other's shirts, exchanging blows and laughing like maniacs as they spread curry all across each other's face.

Unbeknownst to them, a small audience had gathered to watch them flinging food and random kitchen tools across the now wrecked room.

"…why do they always do that, Papa?" asked a small voice from the monitor hanging opposite the table.

"Fight, you mean? It's… well… their way to… well, it's simply their way to interact with one another, I guess," 'Papa' answered.

"Precisely," added a third voice.

"…and they're flinging food at one another… _why_?" voice-one remarked.

"Err… just because?"

"It's… a way to show affection," the third voice again, the matter-of-factly one. "One entirely human, fortunately."

"Exactly as your father said."

"Oh." Voice one, who was none other than our little Axl, mulled over the response for a while more. Then more, then more, and _more,_ face scrunched up in thought and with his tongue peeking out from between his lips, until the metaphorical bulb appeared over his digital head. "…they're _flirting_!"

"YES!"

"…no."

"Aww, c'mon, Blues. You know they ARE."

"While I won't deny there's a certain chemistry between our Net-Ops, I don't think it is of the romantic kind. Besides, I refuse to classify food wars as _flirting_." There was a short pause, then Blues pointed a finger at the boys. "However, _that_ can fall into the category of flirting."

And indeed, Netto had pinned Enzan to the floor, and was busy tasting curry from the other boy's cheek. Rockman laughed.

"No, that's just Netto-kun being starved, and realizing what little curry is left is spread all across Enzan-kun's face. No flirting to be found in there."

Blues made a noncommittal sound in the back of his throat. Axl pulled a confused face.

"Are they, or aren't they flirting?"

"No."

"Yes."

And please notice that Rockman, who's said yes before, was the one to say no now; while Blues, who'd been sceptical the first time around, was now acquiescent.

Confused, Axl cuddled – make it half-glued himself to, half-climbed on, half-clung to his Papa. (And yes, I'm aware we've got a spare "half"). Reaching out, he caught a fistful of his Daddy's hair, then brought the hand back to chest and squeezed. Satisfied that he was now firmly latched to both his parents Axl turned, watching as his human Ojichan smeared curry all over each other's faces.

The relationship between Netto and Enzan was an odd one. One moment, they looked like brothers. The next, they were enemies. The following, they looked like the were flirting. A brief period of being rivals (who tired to beat each other to a pulp every second or two), and then they were back to acting like twins, those of the telepathic kind, too.

Axl was still too young to understand the complexity of humans relationship; watching his Ojichan interact almost sent him reeling in confusion. For Axl, people could be either married or sweethearts — like his parents and grandparents – be someone else's friend, parent, sibling or child; and that was it. He had Ojichan everywhere for that very reason: for him, people didn't have to be related to him by blood to be his "uncles"; as long as the love was there, it was all right to bestow the title upon just about anyone.

Excuse me as I go all 'awwwww' about it.

"Can't they decide already?" Axl remarked after a while. "I want a _cousin_!"

"Cousin" was the Axl translation for playmate, or so it seemed. It wasn't clear who or what had put the idea of a cousin in his head; but he wouldn't stop asking for one. Upon asking Roll, he'd received a blush, a shriek, and a bear hug as an answer, but no cousin.

Glyde-Ojichan had paled several shades of grey, swayed dizzily for a moment, before murmuring a something about "not being quite ready", and bolting.

Asking Gutsman-Ojichan had provided Axl the funniest answer so far. Gutsman had blushed so hot he'd started to smoke from the ears; then he'd surged, flaying about those huge fists of his, destroying everything in sight. The funniest part had been his Papa popping up behind Gutsman-Ojichan from nowhere, bonking him on the head with a potted plant and sending him twitching on the floor… with a digital cactus sticking from the top of his head.

After the Gutsman fiasco, Axl's Grandfather, Yuuichiro, had promised the child to "make him one" (cousin, that is) as soon as he could; and was currently researching the matter of Navi pregnancies at the best of his abilities.

So far, no luck.

Axl had even resourced to ask Santa Claus for a cousin, but the big bearded human had yet to answer him. Maybe he didn't get digital mails, up there in North Pole? Or he just couldn't reach Axl because his PET had no chimney Santa could use?

The kid really had tried everything. He'd even offered Granma Haruka what little zenny he had, so that she could go and buy him a cousin at the Mall. Too bad it seemed the store was currently out of cousins, and had to restock them.

…no, Axl had no idea exactly what a cousin was. Why, you noticed?

He had just a vague idea that a cousin was a playmate, and that only someone related to him could grant him one. Which lead him to ask his grandparents and his two human Ojichan for one every chance he got.

Poor them.

And poor Axl, too! Let's wish him luck in his Quest for a Cousin, mh?

Meanwhile, Enzan and Netto were _still_ at it. And they would have been "at it" for a long while too, hadn't a voice come from the hallway.

"…not that I don't enjoy seeing you here, Enzan. But I hope that curry will be wiped clean before you go."

Netto and Enzan scrambled immediately to attention, shoving and pulling each other even as they did, and turned as one towards the door. Haruka, Netto's mother, was coming inside, her minute frame literally _festooned_ with bags.

"Hello boys. Would you mind giving me a hand…?" Cyclones couldn't have been any faster. Haruka was freed from the bags in 0.2 seconds, and the food was stacked away in approximately the same time. She smiled down at her little helpers. "Thank you."

"T'was nothing."

"Piece of cake, mom."

"Obachan!" squealed Axl, bouncing forth until he was all but flattened to the kitchen counter's screen, as though he could get through it and into the Real World if he pushed hard enough. "Welcome back! Did you buy me anything? A cousin? A toy? A chip? A _cousin_?"

"_Axl!_" chorused his parents, in warning/chiding tones. Axl turned towards them, eyes huge. His cheeks dimpled and coloured slightly when he grinned apologetically up at them.

"She promised she'd bring me something…!"

"And something I got you. But you won't get it until your Grandfather is back. It was he who suggested the gift, after all." Winking, Haruka went to collect the ingredients for a cake, while the boys spontaneously began to clean after themselves.

"So, how are things going, Enzan?" Haruka asked after a while, her tone low and very sweet. Ever since Axl's conception, Enzan had become an almost-constant guest in her house, and Haruka was growing steadily fonder of the dual-haired little loner.

Enzan shrugged, and Netto glared daggers and several other kinds of weapon at him.

"He's killing himself with work, that's how it's going."

Enzan darted him a withering glance.

"What do you expect me to do? Give up my position at IPC to please you?"

"_Yes!_"

That _did_ throw Enzan off-guard. Haruka, however, merely chuckled.

"Now be reasonable Netto. Too many people depend on Enzan, and he wouldn't let them down, you know it." She shook her head, and the look on her face was part fondness and part sadness. "Besides, it must be hard for him to organize everything, now that Blues isn't living with him anymore."

Netto's face immediately switched from earnest to guilty. Enzan turned to look at Blues, and smiled.

"Speaking of which, is our small arrangement working fine?"

Axl beat everyone to the chase.

"Yes!" he squealed. "I LOVE living with both Daddy and Papa, Enzan-Ojichan! Thank you sooooooooooooo much!"

Enzan waved airily at the child, smiling fondly at him. Being a digital creature, Axl was bound to develop faster than a human boy or any other organic creature, but his growing rate seemed to be determined by the amount of data he gathered. Yuuichiro had advised to keep that data flow to a minimum, in order to keep Axl's growing rate slow and even. Which is why Enzan's adorable nephew still fell in the child category, even if three whole months have passed since we last saw him.

Now, the "arrangement" Enzan mentioned, and that allowed Axl to live with both his parents, was a simple enough thing. A PC had been set up at Sci-Lab to serve as Rockman, Blues and Axl's home. It was on 24/7 and password-restricted, so that no one other than Enzan, Netto, Yuuichiro and the three Navis could access it. Occasional guests were allowed, provided that one of the house-members accompanied them, or had given them a temporary key.

During the day, Rockman and Blues went "to work" with Enzan and Netto, and at night retired together in their PC-home, where Axl (and the appointed babysitter) waited eagerly for them, and the battling stories they'd bring. It wasn't often that Blues and Rockman were both out of the house (their schedule having been carefully planned by Yuuichiro himself) but when it happened, Roll, Gutsman and even Glyde were more than happy to keep an eye on "Kitty-Ears".

The arrangement allowed Axl the chance to interact with both his parents in a stable, loving environment. Netto himself seemed to profit from the whole thing, and spent more time over at Sci-Lab than he did at his own home.

But Enzan? He'd been virtually stripped of his most trusted advisor, best friend, stress-venting tool, body guard, personal agenda, favoured hobby, alarm clock, battling partner and confident. To compensate the loss, he'd thrown himself head-first into work. But like Netto loved to remind him every chance he got, if he kept working at those levels, he wouldn't have any black hair left on his head in a matter of weeks.

"Enzan…"

"It's all right, Netto. Children _deserve_ to be with their parents."

Enzan tried to tell himself he'd successfully hidden the bitterness in his voice, but everyone present was affected by it. A chill came into the room, and Haruka had to fight down a shiver. She hastily dried her hands on her apron, and gingerly put her arms around Enzan. She squeezed once – knowing how uncomfortable the boy was with physical contact – and let go.

"The cake won't be ready for another hour or so…" she said, turning back to the stove. "Why don't you boys wait for it upstairs?" she said, and gently pushed them into the living room. "I'll call you once it's cooled down enough, all right?"

Axl gave a tinkling laugh.

"You won't need to call us, Obachan!"

"No?"

"No! Netto-Ojichan will smell the cake as soon as it's out of the oven! Won't you, Netto-Ojichan? Uh? _Uh?_"

Haruka giggled, even as Netto turned a shade darker about the cheeks and muttered something in his defence.

"True enough. Now go. Any good chef has her secrets, and you aren't going to discover mine."

And so saying Haruka ushered her boys – human and digital alike — out of her kitchen.

**- Scene 1 cleared.**

**NOW LOADING…**

Here we are! The first, overtly-long first chapter of Stage 5! I hope it was worth the wait! =D

I've got many – maybe _too_ many – ideas for this one. Putting them down into a resemblance of order it's going to take loads of chappies… but I've got the feeling I'm going to enjoy it! X3

On a side note… Netto and Enzan. To quote Blues, "While I won't deny there's a certain chemistry between [them], I don't think it is of the romantic kind." This is to say, I don't _think_ (think being the keyword) that Enzan and Netto will be a couple in this fic. They will, however, grow real close, as a kind of… side effect to everything that's happened and will happen. Unless you want to me to flat-out add that pairing? :o


	9. Stage 5: Maturation part B

**Title: **"Infecten – stage 5 – _Maturation 2/?_"

**Author:** Nemesi.

**Fandom:** (MMBN)

**Genre: **Romance. Humour.

**Word Count: **2820.

**Characters/Pairings: **Blues/Rockman; Netto, Enzan, Axl mainly. Others mentioned.

**Rating:** PG-13.

**Disclaimer:** , its characters, places and themes belong to Capcom, Shogakukan, ShoPro, TV Tokio, etc.. No copyright infringement is intended.

**Warnings:** Shounen-ai. Un-betaed. Navi-preg (and I claim _ownership_ on this idea). OC.

**A/N:** In this stage, the disease fully develops into a chronic condition.

**Summary: **

* * * * *

Netto pedalled faster, then faster, and faster still, let his bike tether at the top of the slope for a second or two, and then launched it downhill at fantastic speed, sticking his legs out, throwing his arms in the air and shouting out loud.

Once the ground evened out again, forcing the bike to a slower pace, Netto took control of the pedals again, bent over and speeded up the next hill, starting the process anew.

From his PET (which Netto carried pinned to his arm to give the Navis inside a good look of the road) Axl was yippie-ing, and shouting at his Ojichan to go: "Faster! Faster!!". Rockman was torn between being seasick, and smiling gratefully at his Net-Op. If it wasn't for Netto, Axl would _still_ be sulking about not getting a cousin from Haruka, but just a game chip. For his part, Blues was cradling his forehead with his palm, shaking his head at the Foolishness of Human Behaviour at regular intervals.

As for Enzan… inside, he was having a very interesting debate on the Advantages of Using a Limousine Over a Pedal-Driven, Human-Powered Vehicle With Two Wheels; outside, he was sitting behind Netto on the bike, clinging onto his waist with one arm, and balancing a box containing Haruka's cake with the other.

"What's the point of saving me from starvation, if then you're going to launch ourselves against a wall a 80 Mph, mh?" he hollered, trying to be heard over the rushing wind. "Slow down!"

"Ah, this is what us mere mortals call fun, Enzan! F-U-N! Relax already!"

"I would, if my life wasn't at stake. Slow _down_!"

"_Nyaaah_! Go faster, Netto-Ojichan! Faster!"

"K-Roger, Axl!"

"…_Netto_!"

Deaf to anything but Axl's excited cheering, Netto reached the top of the next hill, then threw up his arms, spread his legs and let gravity reign supreme.

"And down. we. _GOOOOOO_!"

"Yippieeee!"

"NETTO!!!!!"

Truthfully, Netto had no idea why he'd decided to use his bike, and not the subway. He could blame his decision on a number of things, from the pleasant weather to the fact he didn't want the cake to get squished on the way to Sci-Lab, but the honest truth was one, and one alone: getting Enzan to react in ways that were even just vaguely human had become Netto's favourite past-time. And if hauling him along on a bike ride was what it took to upset Enzan, haul him along on a bike ride Netto would!

…which is why, one quarter of an hour later, Netto was sprawled on the floor of one of Sci-Lab's many waiting rooms, wailing and pouting and pleading, while Enzan put peroxide on his scraped knees.

And elbows.

And forearms.

And palms.

Oh! and let's not forget the cut on his cheek.

…or his split lip.

"I _told_ you to slow down."

To Enzan's credit, we must admit he was in no way basking in his rival's pain. He wasn't even gloating down at him from his I-told-you-so position up there, which is what most people would've done.

He _was_, however, applying just a bit too much pressure when pressing the cotton ball to Netto's cuts. A kind of reproach, if you will. Or a reminder.

Netto stuck out his bottom lip – so much so you'd think it'd upset his balance and make him fall face-first on the carpet– and punched Enzan on the arm.

"Leave me alone."

"For your own sake, I'd better not. What was all that hurry for, anyway? We're obviously early. Approximately-" Enzan glanced down at his PET, and blinked. "—_three quarters of an hour_ early." He informed drily.

Netto flushed.

"That much?"

"Yeah. I knew you were eager to introduce them to Axl, but _this_…"

Netto muttered something, turned his back on Enzan, crossed his arms, and proceeded to scowl at the wall, which had done nothing to deserve his anger, but was the only thing in the near distance he could scowl at without retaliation.

Enzan released a long-suffered sigh, and rolled his eyes as though to ask whoever was up there and looking: "Why _me_?". Sitting on the floor, he leaned with his back against Netto's own, and turned his gaze out of the window.

"…I hate you," Netto informed him.

"Likewise, Hikari. Now hush."

Netto relaxed back against him, and did as instructed.

Now, three quarters of an hour can be a _really_ long time. Especially if you just sit there, doing nothing, saying nothing, eyes staring out but actually riveted inside. And yet, when the door was pushed open exactly three quarters of an hour later, Netto and Enzan could've sworn they'd been sitting there for ten, twelve minutes at most.

Hearing the door creaking open, Netto's face lit up like a Christmas tree. With a speed that rivalled that of light, Netto leaped to his feet, bounded forward and began tugging his friends inside one by one.

"Meiru-chan! Dekao! Yaito! Tohru! I'm glad you made it, guys!"

Over inside one of the many PCs, a scene entirely too similar was taking place.

"…Roll-chan! Gutsman! Glyde! Iceman! Thank you for coming!" Rockman was saying, a warm, grateful smile on his face. Blues made a gesture that could, or couldn't have been a greeting towards the newcomers, before he found his arms – well, _hair_ – full of Roll.

"Ehya, Blues!" she grinned. It was only a moment, then she found _her own_ arms full of Axl.

"ROLL-ONEESAN!!"

"AXL!!!!!!"

Blues smiled at the duo as they twirled around happily, then offered the other Navis a sombre nod.

"Welcome," he began, in his pleasant, rough voice. "Your presence here is really appreciate, especially on such a short notice."

His greeting generated a chorus of answers, a couple of stunned blinks, a giggle, three coughs, caused Gutsman to puff out his chest and earned Blues one radiant, beautiful smile, this one from Rockman.

The Blue Bomber quickly stepped back to his – mate? Lover? Husband? They still had to settle for a proper term, those two – and wrapped his arms around his waist. He was delighted when he felt Blues squeeze him in turn. Gazing up, he met Blues's eyes through the visor – the optical upgrades Rockman had installed truly made wonders — and decided to remain lost in them for a while.

The whole of forever sounded just about good.

No, wait – Blues was smiling at him now, and pulling him closer. Forever was definitely _not enough_. Rock would have to find a way to stay in that position longer than _that_. (and he'd find it, believe me. He was _that_ besotted.)

Meanwhile, Iceman had been watching their interactions from his spot beside the entry port. He would tilt his head to a side, then to the other, the back to its previous inclination, very, _very_ slowly, like an old pendulum clock. Right, left, right, left, right, left…

After a while of this, he narrowed his eyes, looking confused, and pursed his always-pouting mouth to new levels of poutiness.

"…why are Blues-san and Rockman-san so _touchy-feely_?"

The question was innocent enough, and yet, everyone froze on the spot. Iceman had yet to be introduced to the concept of Rockman and Blues as a couple. There were some quick, shared glances as the Navis gauged the most proper way to break the news, then—

"Because they're in _love_!" Axl pointed out in a 'duh' voice, causing a collective groan.

Iceman blinked, did the head-tilting all over again, and took a moment to consider the improvement. He didn't look thrilled by it – but neither did he look bothered, which was the most important thing. In the end, he settled for staying neutral, and made no comment.

He had, however, another matter to address. Turning towards Axl he half-asked, half-stated:

"…I don't think I know you…?" and pouted a little more.

Three things happened at once, then.

One, Roll clamped her hand firmly on Axl's mouth to prevent further damage coming from there.

Two, Rockman and Blues kind of stepped between Axl and Iceman, as though wanting to either hide or restrain the kid.

Three, every Navi in there opened their mouth and said: "Axl," while clearly meaning: "don't ask more."

Iceman blinked.

"Err… nice to meet you, Axl."

"Nice to meet you too, Iceman-san!" answered Axl.

Well, having been said from under Roll's hand, the words came out muffled, and actually sounded a lot more like: "Mphice Mpho Mpheet Pmhyu Pmhoo Ipmhmanmph-mphan!", but it's the thought that counts.

In the meantime, out in the real world, a small crowd of Net-Ops had gathered around the PC, just in time to hear the awkward introduction. There was a moment of confused silence, then Meiru burst out into soft giggles.

"So _that's_ Axl? Roll has been telling me so much about him…!"

Which earned the aforementioned pink Navi several glares. She hunched her shoulders protectively, and countered Enzan's arched eyebrow with her own furrowed ones.

"What? You never told me I couldn't tell Meiru I've made a new friend!"

Enzan rubbed off the beginnings of an headache and sighed.

"Roll…"

"It's true!"

"You…"

"Is it!"

"Ro…"

"Don't deny it!"

"I won't."

"_Good_."

She put her miniature hands on her miniature hips and glared up at him in a way that made Enzan's mouth twitch upwards at the corner. It was astounding, how matter-of-factly a lady so small could sound.

He half-expected her to start wiggling a finger at him, and scold him in the tone of a mother reprimanding her child for not doing his homework, but he banished that thought as soon as it came. He'd never _had_ a mother. He had no business imagining how dealing with one would be _like_.

"Okay, okay, no more of that," he ordered, a little more gruffly than intended. "I didn't tell you _outright_ to hide _all_ info about Axl, and so you didn't. My _bad_." Roll looked a little shamefaced at the reproach, but kept the glare going, mainly because Enzan had used way too much sarcasm for her liking. "I'll let it slide this once, Roll. Provided that you didn't tell her that…"

"Of course I didn't tell her _that_!" She gave him a 'duh' look, which he countered with his usual eyebrow-hoist.

Meiru, who was a little disconcerted at the odd levels of familiarity between her Navi and Ijuin-kun, was now _extremely_ worried at the prospect that, whatever she hadn't been told, it was huge, and it was _dangerous_, too.

"Tell me _what_…?" she enquired softly, but with a firmness in her voice that demanded attention.

Enzan rounded on Netto with a smirk.

"_Your_ turn to explain."

Netto clutched his forehead, which only caused Enzan's smirk to grow exponentially.

"Aw, shucks…! Well, y'see: it's like _this_…"

* * * * *

"…how could Rockman have Blues's child? Isn't he a _boy_?"

As soon as Dekao said that, Enzan held out his hand towards Netto, palm up, and flicked his fingers expectantly. Grumbling something about "bad luck" and "stupid bets" Netto fished an handful of battle chips from his pocket, and dumped them unceremoniously into Enzan's waiting palm. Their eyes didn't mean once during the whole exchange.

"Actually," Enzan began, pocketing his win. "With Navis gender isn't an issue. If we want to be technical, no matter their outer appearance, Navis are genderless. Still, there's something in their basic programming that allows them to produce an offspring with whichever partner they choose. A sort of hermaphroditism, like it can be found in plants. At least that's the theory we're contemplating at the moment."

Meiru pulled a face at Enzan's terribly unromantic explanation. When she turned to look at Blues and Rockman, she flashed them a smile, sweet and very happy.

"I think some congratulations are in order!" her smiled widened. "You make a very sweet couple, Rockman, Blues. I'm glad you two found each other."

Rockman beamed up at her, and even Blues's lips quirked a little upwards. Reaching out, Meiru put her index finger on the PC monitor. Smiling, she told Axl she was pleased to meet him. Axl's face lit up like a Christmas tree – no wait, we used that metaphor already, right? Then… it lit up like _two_ Christmas trees — and, standing on tiptoes, he reached up with both hands and pushed them against Meiru's fingertip.

"It's nice to meet'cha too, Meiru-Oneesan!"

"Axl…" Rockman's tone was chiding, when he said this. Meiru laughed his concern away.

"Aw, don't worry. He can call me that, if he likes it."

Axl brightened even more as he nodded with approximately the same speed of a washer's basket during centrifugation.

"I do, I do Meiru-Oneesan! _I do!_"

Dekao was quick to follow the girl's example. Grinning, he bent towards the monitor to congratulate the newly parents, and then tapped the screen to greet a bouncing Axl.

Tohru, like his Navis before him, took a moment to digest these new pieces of information. Unlike his Navi thought, he did not seem unfazed. Rather, his face darkened, and he looked away when he felt Blues and Rockman's eyes upon him.

That caused Rockman's – and Netto's – spirits to dampen, and their shoulders to slump. Blues's – and Enzan's – hand found their way immediately to the slumped shoulders mentioned above and gave each a comforting squeeze.

Tohru seemed to struggle with himself for a moment… then sat back in his chair with a shaky smile. It was clear that he wasn't all that comfortable with Blues and Rockman's relationship, or with the notion of Navis being able to procreate. But he was a good kid, and a good friend besides, and would not leave.

Netto looked like he might glomp Tohru then and there, but wisely refrained (that, and Enzan was pulling him back by the shoulder). Then all eyes turned towards Yaito.

The girl looked pensive, like Tohru had, and was pushing her mouth this way and that, turning these new developments over in her head. The room grew silent as she did, so much so you could've heard a pin drop.

When she finally looked up, her eyes were narrow and dark. She crossed her arms in an imperious manner, scrunching her nose up in what looked like anger. She glowered at Netto, and the poor boy couldn't help but squirm under the heated glare, gulping audibly when Yaito strode up to him in silence.

"You," she said, once she was close enough to jab a finger in his chest. "…are the biggest fool in the history of fools!" she jabbed him again, once for each word she spoke. "How could you forget to notify your friends about something that important! You…you… _baka_!"

She then proceeded to bite Netto's head off, her voice so high-pitched it was a wonder no window was shattering. But our hero was so, so glad of the acceptance of his friends, that he burst out into relieved laughter, threw his arms around Yaito and made her twirl (which enraged Yaito and amused the rest of them).

There were several moments of commotion, then Meiru piped up and said that yeah, Yaito was right, and what had Netto been thinking, keeping such an important secret from his friends, anyway? Didn't he, by any chance, trust them?

Meiru getting riled up meant that _Dekao_ got riled up, and given that Yaito was _already_ riled up, it only meant that Netto was in for a thorough scolding. Tohru – which we'd like to say again, was not a bad kid, but just a veryvery shy and sheltered one – grinned a little at the antics of his friends. A gesture than developed into a full, clear laugh, when Netto all but threw himself at Meiru's feet and began to plead for his case.

A few more moments of this, then Enzan decided that enough was enough. He flicked his hair out of his eyes, a gesture which somehow commanded everyone's attention towards him, and began:

"Surely you realize this must stay a secret…"

And so, the big secret was out, and everyone was happier for it. All was well in their world for a while (even if Enzan was a little displeased with Netto self-appointed task of dragging him away from his office every chance he got) and everything ran smoothly (well, as smoothly as you could expect from two teenager Net-Ops, their not-quite-married Navis and a Navi-child which was too curious and smart and adorable for his own good) for about one month, twenty-six days, fourteen hours, nine minutes, and a bunch of seconds.

Then, a series of unfortunate events took place, in close succession. Among those there were: a mass-ambush, a disappearance, some frightful meetings, new friendships, the acquiring of a scar, past secrets coming to light, an evil plot unveiled, an old legend reawakening, a public scandal, a case of memory-loss, painful fights, a winding journey, the discovery of a star-crossed love-relationship or two, and let's not forget: a period of captivity.

**- Scene 2 cleared.**

**NOW LOADING…**


	10. Stage 5: Maturation part C

**Title: **"Infecten – stage 5 – _Maturation 3/?_"

**Author:** Nemesi.

**Fandom:** (MMBN)

**Genre: **Romance. Humour.

**Word Count: **1670.

**Characters/Pairings: **Blues/Rockman; Netto, Enzan, Axl mainly. Others mentioned.

**Rating:** PG-13.

**Disclaimer:** , its characters, places and themes belong to Capcom, Shogakukan, ShoPro, TV Tokio, etc.. No copyright infringement is intended.

**Warnings:** Shounen-ai. Un-betaed. Navi-preg (and I claim _ownership_ on this idea). OC.

**A/N:** In this stage, the disease fully develops into a chronic condition.

**Summary:** And then, unfortunate event n° 1 took place.

* * * * *

**S**huuseki Ijuin wasn't happy. Not that it was any news (the man had permanent frown lodged on his face since about birth), but today his not-happy levels had skyrocketed through the roof and then some.

"Are you _absolutely sure_ about this?" he asked.

His interlocutor was a tall, slim man donning a long cloak and matching black hat. There was a shadow of stubble on his chin, and his hair was long and haggardly cut, reaching barely past his shoulders. His eyes glittered coldly in the shadow cast by his hat, their colour an indefinable hue that stood between grey and blue, as though they were made of either ice or glass.

"_Are you_?" Mr Ijuin asked again.

The man-in-black offered him an infuriating smirk.

"Whaddaya say, Chief?" He lounged back in his chair (he was _supposed_ to remain standing before his employer but, oh! he was never one for formalities) tipped his hat, and jerked his chin towards the papers currently spread between them. "It's all in there… data logs, dates, scans, pictures."

Mr Ijuin clenched his fists, feeling the dull half-moons of his nails dig inside his palms. The vertical line between his eyebrows deepened suddenly.

"Impossible."

"Yeah, _sure_. Ya seen th' pictures. They're withholding th' information, but Sci-Lab _has_ developed a way ta impregnate Navis. And…"

He trailed off, and his voice dripped a sort of dark delight. Taking his feet from the desk he stretched across it, grasped one of the pictures and casually flung it towards Mr Ijuin.

The picture landed with calculated choreography right where it was supposed to, face up and angled just _so_.

"—yer own _son'_s been actively helpin' them _all along,_" the man-in-black finished, relaxing back in his chair.

"I cannot possibly believe…"

"That th' midget'd slip top-secret information to yer rival company right under yer nose?" the man-in-black sneered. The way he dealt with Mr Ijuin was peculiar. Looking at him, you'd get the feeling that, while he loved the snuffing work, loved mixing with the shadows, swimming through them to overhear jealously-kept secret and sneak peeks of unheard-of wonders, he despised the man who paid him to do it.

If you think about it, this combination of pride and loathing wasn't just odd, but instable, too. Like a easily inflammable liquid, it was liable to blast at the merest spark. And blasts, you realize, have the nasty tendency to make damage.

Moving the camera back to Mr Ijuin, reveals a tightening in his jaw; jury's still out whether on not an iron bar would've snapped, were it to be placed between his teeth at the moment. The line between his eyebrows had all but turned into a gulf. His mouth had taken an unforgiving downward curve. The Man-in-black smirked at his obvious irritation.

"Well, but that's _exactly_ what he's been doin'! Hell, kid's even volunteered his own precious Navi--" he produced another picture from his sleeve, like a magician or a barstool trickster, and threw it on top of the first one. "—as one of th' main subjects of th' experiment."

Looking down at the picture, Mr Ijuin was met with the sight of a Navi who was unmistakably Blues: sword at the ready, hair flying wild, one arm wrapped securely around Rockman, shielding him from a blast of sorts.

The man-in-black kept flinging pictures at Mr Ijuin, each showing some kind of interaction between the Red Navi and the Blue Navi – be it in tournaments, on the field as they fought Net-menaces, or in private.

As the stack of pictures grew, so did Mr Ijuin's fury. His blood began to boil, in almost the literal sense, as his face went first pale, then flushed over.

Finally, the crowing picture was flung, and landed with a flourish on top of the stake. It was a picture of the purple-clad, green-eyed, kitty-eared result of Blues and Rockman's union. A crude circle had been drawn with a red marker around the young Navi's face. Underneath, the name "" had been written in a spidery calligraphy and underlined twice.

Mr Ijuin looked up, his lips in a line, eyes storming with anger. If someone had thrown a bucket of water on his head at the moment, it'd have evaporated in a matter of seconds. His fist shook, so much so that he had to forcibly restrain it. When he next spoke his voice was steady and cold; but it was a coolness borne of pure anger, honed like a blade:

"I want those Navis. All three of them. _Now._"

The man-in-black's eyes lost a little of their gleam, then. But his smile was wide, flashing white in the cool shadow of his face.

"Gotcha."

* * * * *

"…which is an aspect I fear has been neglected in your project. We should reflect on our potential market pool and establish a target _before_ any coding is done for the site, so that…"

"IJIUIN ENZAN, EITHER YOU GET OUT OF THERE IN THE NEXT TEN SECONDS OR I SWEAR--!"

The scream, you realize, had a force that made the windows rattle, hurricane-like, for a whole bunch of seconds. It was also imbued with such a bristling, red-hot indignation, that more than one investor found himself flinching or ducking for cover. Those few who hadn't dived under the Meeting Room table were amazed to see the scream – indignation, volume and all – slid off IPC's young President like water off a duck's back.

Enzan merely paused in his speech — not even _faltered_, but took a deliberate pause. He rearranged his papers in front of him and rose with an elegance that would've made a model envious.

Smiling, he bowed at the waist and excused himself from his baffled clients. He walked slowly and deliberately to the door (but still within the ten-seconds limit, mind you), bowed politely one last time, went out into the corridor, and all was silence.

Silence was broken two seconds later by a loud ramming noise, followed closely by a pained yelp.

"OUCH! Enzan! What was that _for_?!"

There was some urgent whispering from Enzan-san, then a high, carefree laugh from whoever his visitor was.

"I know. And I _knew_ you'd hole yourself in there and forget all about lunch. So I brought you something. See? Mom made it especially for _you_. _And_ Meiru sends you some homemade cookies. I mean, she _sent_ them, past tense. … … … …What? I was _hungry_!"

Enzan laughed then, a sound he tried to muffle, but still audible. Some eyebrows rose inside the room, and not a few mouths quirked up in amusement. Hearing Ijuin Enzan laugh so light-heartedly was as rare as seeing a birds flying backwards. He whispered something too low to be heard, to which his visitor replied:

"Yeah, yeah, you _wish_. Are you coming, now? …no. …no. I said, 'no'. NOPE! … … … … all right. _Ten minutes_. Not a second more. Then I'm barging in there and dragging you out by the hair, fair warning."

And then the door re-opened (it's amusing how quickly the investors scrambled back to their seats, like schoolboys who didn't want to be caught on their feet by the teacher), and Enzan made his way inside, looking as unruffled as when he'd left. Outside, if they craned their neck, the investors could glimpse a boy with a blue bandanna and a orange vest tapping his foot impatiently.

The sight in itself wasn't threatening… but the pout. Oh! That _pout_. It was endearing and annoying and highly _menacing_ at once, a mixture that somehow prompted every one of them to close off the meeting within the ten-minutes time limit.

Exactly ten minutes later, Enzan emerged from his office, one eyebrow firmly lodged at his hairline.

"You," he told Netto in a business tone, "will accompany me to my _every_ meeting from now on. I have never signed a contract so quickly and with so little complaints, before."

Netto offered a hearty laugh, and thrust the lunch box in Enzan's hands.

"Deal. Especially if I get to skip school to come with you."

"Well, if that happened, I could hire some private teachers to…"

"Forget it. Let's go. _Someone,_" he said, with an air of secrecy about him, "is waiting for you."

Enzan correctly deciphered what all of the wink-winking, nudge-nudging Netto was subjecting him to was about, and smiled.

"Good. I'm rather anxious to see him too. I want to know how his first training lesson went."

"Fabulous! He's so quick, you wouldn't believe! Not even Rockman and Blues combined could be _that_ agile!"

"Being so small and slender, he makes an hard target to hit, doesn't he?"

"_The_ hardest."

"Chips?"

Netto shook his head, and said: "We didn't use any," which Enzan actually approved of.

"How did he attack then…?" he asked, trying to sound casual. But an eager glint had appeared in his eyes, so unlike the cold façade he usually hid behind.

Unfortunately for him, Netto just shook his head with a grimace.

"He didn't. Whatever he did that day with Roll… it can't be replicated."

Both boys faltered in their steps, before stopping altogether, each lost in his own private thoughts.

"Maybe…"

"Perhaps…"

"I mean…"

"A lucky shot, mh?"

"Seems like it."

Lost in reverie, Netto didn't notice that Enzan had left him behind until he heard the ding of the elevator reaching their floor. Springing forth with a shout, Netto caught up with his friend, weaselling inside the elevator a moment before the doors slung shut.

"I…"

"…hate me, I know." Enzan offered airily, before taking a peek inside the lunch box. His eyes widened and warmed up, and Netto leaned with his back against the door to better admire the play of emotion wafting across Enzan's surprised but pleased face.

"Your favourite," he offered simply, after a while.

Enzan nodded, and said nothing for the rest of the ride.

Or, better yet, until unfortunate event n° 1 took place.

The elevator stopped.

Between two floors.

And they were stuck.

**- Scene ****3 cleared.**

**NOW LOADING…**


	11. Stage 5: Maturation part D

Super-duper-uber extra long chapter, this one. I hope you'll… well, like it? If you need me, I'll be huddled in the anti-atomic shield. *flees the scene*

**Title: **"Infecten – stage 5 – _Maturation 4/?_"

**Author:** Nemesi.

**Fandom:** (MMBN)

**Genre: **Romance. Humour. THIS CHAPTER ALSO CONTAINS: angst, and a battle scene.

**Word Count:**3433.

**Characters/Pairings: **Blues/Rockman; Netto, Enzan, Axl mainly. Others mentioned.

**Rating:** PG-13.

**Disclaimer:** , its characters, places and themes belong to Capcom, Shogakukan, ShoPro, TV Tokio, etc.. No copyright infringement is intended.

**Warnings:** Shounen-ai. Un-betaed. Navi-preg (and I claim _ownership_ on this idea). OC.

**A/N:** In this stage, the disease fully develops into a chronic condition.

**Summary****: **And suddenly, all was not well anymore.

* * * * *

**I**n the main hall of the IPC's building, right behind the huge glass doors, a mahogany desk stretched luxuriously across the green carpet. Four girls in wine-red suits stood guard behind its bulk, and from them visitors could acquire a pass, book an appointment with this or that Important Person or receive a glossy brochure declaiming the greatness of the Ijuin empire.

The girls were aided in their job by a PC; a small model, slim and extremely fancy on the outside, but efficient like little else. Within the PC was a digital waiting area, where Navis could file up to book an appointment, or just soak up info on the famous company and its high-tech wonder of a building.

When Roll pixelated into the area, she'd resigned herself to be met professionally (read: glacially) by one of the Net-guides, as it always happened. She hadn't expected to be greeted by a fangirlish squeal, and assaulted by a cat-eared blur travelling at the speed of light.

"_Roll-Oneesan!!!!!!"_

Roll had just enough time to bend her legs a little – like a baseball catcher – and opened her arms, 'oofing' slightly when Axl barrelled into them full-speed.

"Roll-Oneesan!" the child chirped again, bouncing up and down like a yo-yo (but sans the string, obviously).

"Hey there, little guy. What's got you so excited?"

"He's had his first training session today," Rockman explained, walking up to them with a smirk.

Roll, who'd been well-aware of it all along, and actually came to collect Axl at IPC only just to know how it went, made her eyes and mouth go wide and round.

"Did you?" she asked the still-bouncing child. "And how did it go?"

Rockman cleared his throat in a way that seemed meant to hide a laugh, but Axl brightened like a 1000Whatt light bulb.

"Famously, Roll-Oneesan! You should've seen me! I beat _aaaaaaaaaaaallllllllllll_ the evil viruses!"

Roll blinked up at Rockman, looking for an explanation. She highly doubted that Axl could've beat any virus, even in a simulated battle. Rockman mouthed: 'outran them' and pressed his lips to try and contain another laugh. Roll pictured Axl running in panicked circles across the Battle Arena, small legs pumping and arms flailing wildly, and fought down a giggle herself.

"Well then, I think my little warrior deserves a treat for doing so well." She tapped his nose. "What would you like, mh?"

Axl's eyes grew huge at that. And I mean _HUGE_.

"…cousin?"

And he batted his eyelashes rather prettily, a habit he'd actually picked up from _Netto_, of all people.

Roll winced.

"Anything else?"

The question, though sweet-voiced, caused Axl's shoulders to sag and his bottom lip to jug out. The impression of disappointment he projected was so deep, you'd expect the cat ears attached to his helmet to level themselves down against his head.

"Why can't I get a cousin?"

"It's just…" how do you tell a child, especially a child whom you love with all your heart, that he cannot get a playmate because there still hasn't been found a way to make someone like him? How do you explain to him that he's not only special, but _unique_ in the most literal sense of the world, and could have no companion because it simply _doesn't exist_?

"Not… _yet_, Axl." She reached out towards him, but to no avail. Axl scuttled back against his Papa's legs, and looked up at him, jutting bottom lip and all.

"Papa, why can't I have someone to play with? Am I doing something wrong? Am I not good enough? I promise I'll try harder! I'll be better! _Really_!"

"You have me," Roll pointed out gently. "And Rush."

"And Gutsman and Glyde and Iceman," Rockman added, putting his arms around Axl, who looked just about ready to cry.

"But I don't want a grown-up, I want a _child_," whining, and turning on Roll eyes that were huge and mournful. "I want someone who's like me! Someone who was _born_! Someone who has _parents_! Someone who can grow up like I do, that will discover things with me, and that I can teach to!"

Roll and Rockman shared a glance, suddenly at a loss. It looked like even at such a young age Axl was aware of his uniqueness, and was suffering for it. His wish for a cousin wasn't a childish whim, but a request stemming from a deep, serious need for companionship. Who would've guessed?

"Welllllllllllllllllll…" Roll tried after a while, in a sing-song tone. "I don't know about a cousin, but you _might_ get a brother or sister, if you're super-nice."

As predicted, Rockman turned a shade darker. However, even if her jibe _did_ snap Axl out of his depression, it caused a reaction she could've never predicted.

The child gaped at her, eyes wide like a deer's caught in the headlight and growing slowly but steadily huger, huger, _huger_. Once his eyes had grown so big they looked like they couldn't fit in his face anymore, Axl released a series of indignant squeaks, convoyed by jerky hand gestures. Then, frustrated with his own incapability to communicate, Axl threw his arms in the air, cried "_NO!!!_" and, turning, he flyingtackleglomped his Papa. They both went barrelling to the floor, Axl on top and clinging to his father with both arms and legs.

Roll wondered whether to laugh or help Rockman up, decided that both would ruin her fun, and settled for doing nothing.

"_What_?" she asked, with a mirthful note in her voice. "But I thought…"

Axl didn't even let her _finish_. He shook his head frantically, and glared at her, those pretty eyes of his all wet and fiercely aglow.

"No! No, no, no, _no_! Daddy and Papa are _mine_! I'm not sharing them with anyone _else_! They belong to _me!_"

"…nice to know we're so loved," came a dry, but highly amused voice behind them.

Axl disentangled himself from around his Papa with another cry (this one ecstatic). Lunging for his Daddy, he twined around his leg like a climbing-plant around a column, and began to purr (the ears weren't the only trait he shared with felines, it seems).

Blues put a gentle hand on his son's head, and bent to offer the other to Rockman. Rockman accepted the help, and got up from the floor with a smile.

"How come you're here alone? Where are Enzan-kun and Netto-kun?"

Blues made a gesture of greeting towards Roll, then focused on his – boyfriend? _Husband_? Damn, they really _should_ settle for a term! – with a grimace.

"The elevator they were in stopped moving, and they are trapped between the 16th and 15th floor. Since neither the intercom or the emergency alarm button are functioning, Enzan-sama plugged me in the net to come and get help."

Promptly, Rockman offered to go keep the boys company while Blues notified the malfunctioning to whoever could help. But even as the couple spoke, Roll began to feel uneasy.

At first, a nagging suspicion settled in the back of her mind – wasn't it odd that _both_ the intercom and the alarm inside the elevator were off, but the internet connection functioned? If there had been a power-shortage then why, of all the apparatus and machineries in the skyscraper, only the elevator the boys were in had been affected? And now that she thought about it… (she looked about to confirm her first impression) …how come there wasn't even _one single Navi_ in the usually-crowded area?

She was turning her doubts around in her head, finding them too silly to be voiced, but not not-silly enough to be completely discarded, when another, more sickening emotion took hold of her, making her stiffen.

Dread. Panic. The kind that claws at the insides of small animals, when a predator corners them.

"Blues-kun, Rock-kun…" she began, darting quick glances around. She was sweating, and something inside her felt off, as if they were being watched, or worse, part of their data was being tampered with.

The other Navis looked at her, and were immediately set on edge but her obvious distress.

"Roll-chan…?" Rockman asked, stepping towards her.

"Rock-kun, I think…"

But she couldn't finish.

The sound of small, insistent scratching began to echo from all around them, as though they were inside a room, and a multitude of sharp little claws were pawing against the walls from the outside. As the temperature dropped, the scratching gained speed and volume, until the area was filled with the noise of nails on a chalk board.

Suddenly the very air seemed to shatter, like a glass to which has been applied too much pressure. A dark slime began to drip from the cracks, drawing a wide girdle around the four Navis.

For a few, long moments, nothing else happened. Then the slime began to simper, revealing a multitude of glowing yellow eyes, more animalistic than human. Then wide, crooked mouths appeared under the eyes: lipless holes parted around pink wet gums and sharp little fangs, and the slime moulded itself into a horde of squishy creatures, soft and dripping like molten candy.

Roll put a hand to her mouth to suppress a scream. Squicked, Axl clung to his Papa, hiding his face against his legs. Rockman put himself protectively before Axl, charging his buster; and Blues put himself before him in turn, cyber sword at the ready and glowing a neon red.

The creatures slithered towards them like goo or oil; a dark bristling wave that hissed, steamed, churned, muttering something unintelligible all the while. Their stench became more and more horrible as they advanced, something sickly sweet like rotten fruit and wilted flowers that made the Navis reel back as though slapped.

"What… what are those things?!" Roll gasped, recoiling when one of the slimy things leaped at her. Blues turned towards her long enough to dispose of her attacker, and said nothing. Rockman ran a quick scan, and made a frustrated sound in the back of his throat.

"Whatever they are, they fall aren't _just_ infecting the cyberspace, they are bending it and eating it away!"

"They're _what_?!" Roll shrieked, cowering when a slimy tendril leaped blindly at her.

"Whatever you do, don't let them touch you!" Rockman advised even as he emptied his buster in the slimy lots.

"Oh, I'm not planning to!" she cried out, swinging an attack of her own.

Blues muttered a low-sounding answer, smirking when his cyber sword cut cleanly through the closest creature, instantly deleting it. Spinning, he slashed the glowing blade through another three of those things, and cleaved another two with a third swing, watching their sticky remains gather into a poll of goo. Then Roll shrieked: "Look out!" and Blues leaped back without question, cursing when he saw four – five – seven – no, _nine_ creatures erupt from that very same poll, as though rejuvenated. He slashed at the closest, then went back to crouching defensively before Rockman and Axl.

"We are getting nowhere! The more we delete, the more come back!" shouted Rockman.

"A multiplying virus?" asked Roll.

Blues shook his head.

"No. Their behaviour is… _atypical_ for viruses. It's like they are springing from some hidden flow."

"You mean…?"

"They aren't multiplying, they are being _downloaded_ in here."

"And we can't log out." Roll informed, face twisted in annoyance.

Rock tapped into his systems long enough to confirm her words.

"_Great_."

As they spoke, the creatures had been closing in on them on all sides. Noticing this, Blues leapt forth and slashed a hole in the almost-solid wall of creatures, managing to reclaim some ground. Summoning her bow, Roll rained a volley of pink-tipped arrows over his head, forcing their enemies further backwards.

Rockman was about to dash past her in a charge, when a blur of something small and purplish dashed under his arm.

"I can help too, Papa!"

"Axl, _no!_"

Too late.

Axl had already sprung to the forefront, trying in vain to summon an attack he shouldn't even have, let alone _knew how to control_.

"Sonic Boom!" Axl cried. And then again: "Sonic Boom! Sonic Boom!", when nothing happened.

With nothing deterring them, the creatures reared up before the little kid like a tidal wave, rolled and then bent over to engulf him.

Axl cried out and made himself small, trying to shield himself with his raised arms. He waited with baited breath for the impact, feeling helpless and silly and quivering like a leaf, but at the last moment he was picked up, flung out of the way and suddenly, wonderfully he was soaring through the air.

His mind didn't have time to process what was happening that he was already crashing into Rockman's arms. His core pounded in his ears like the hooves of a galloping horse, and he thought he would never again open his eyes, he was so scared.

Then his Papa uttered a wail, something shrill and hearth-wrenching, the likes of which he'd never heard before, and Axl's core stilled on the spot. His eyes shot open on their own accord and, turning, he _saw_.

His Daddy stood where Axl had been just a moment before, caught in the middle of the dark wave, and was screaming in utter, mindless pain. The slimy matter had curled around his calves and was inching upwards with a sloshing sound. Dripping tendrils reached up from the poll of darkness at his feet, and coiled like ropes around Blues's waist, neck, shoulders, and slipping under his armour like worms or needles, slipping under his living _skin_.

Axl howled like a wounded thing at the sight. Rockman teetered for a moment, knees buckling underneath him. He thought he could hear Roll cry out Blues's name, but faintly, as though it came from somewhere far away from him, or deep underwater. Then Blues turned towards him, and what _he_ said Rockman heard, and heard it well.

Blues's mouth opened once, twice, twitching with the strain. His lips were a pale purple and cracking. His breath chilled and condensed into white puffs about his cheeks, and there was a fine dusting of frost spreading across his visor.

"G… g-o," he said.

Rockman heaved a shaky breath, shook his head frantically from side to side, feeling his core thump erratically, but didn't manage a verbal response. Blues gnashed his teeth angrily, swaying when the dark wave coiled around his thighs and tugged harshly.

"Go!" he roared, a cracked lion's roar. Then his body had a spasm. The slimy tentacles reached higher, deeper; forcing him down and on his knees.

"Blu…"

The spongy mass was cocooning itself about him now; threading gleaming filaments around his body. Blues surged against his bonds; one final time.

_"GO!"_he shouted.

And, clenching his eyes shut, Rockman did just that.

He clutched Axl, grabbed Roll's hand and turned. As he ran away, the sound of Blues's last howl of pain trailed after him on red-hued wings.

They dashed through the corrupted space, not slowing once — not when Rockman stumbled, blind with his tears. Not when Axl began to scream and kick in his arms, slashing his arm uselessly towards the sloshing tide that had swallowed his father, screaming Sonic Boom! Sonic Boom! Sonic Boom!Sonic Boom!Sonicboomsinicboomsonic_boom_! Not when Roll's hand slipped from Rockman's own, and she began to run after him on her own, sobbing softly as she went. Not ever.

They ran, and ran, and ran, and the squeamish creatures gave chase, sneering like horrible jesters. More of that slimy substance began to appear, some of it sprouting in oily polls underfoot, some more dripping in fat rivulets from above.

The air got steadily darker as they went, colder but also scarcer, like it happens on the summit of the highest mountains. The creatures multiplied by the tens, creeping out from everywhere and anywhere, ahead and behind and above and _underneath_ them, even; reaching for the three escapees with dripping little talons.

All of a sudden, a poll of slime gushed out of the ground right under their feet, and Rockman was forced backwards. He fired his buster at the approaching fiends, hissing in enraged shock when they liquefied and reconstructed themselves under his attack. As he lowered his weapon to refill it with energy, a wave of that greasy darkness reared up between himself and Roll. Reaching out, he barely managed to thrust Axl into her arms, and then the same tentacles that had taken Blues were around him, clutching him, choking him, pulling him down, down. _Down_.

"Rockman!"

"Papa! Papa! _Papa_!"

Axl reached forward with both arms, wailed when Roll leapt back from the slime before it could twine around his wrists.

"Roll, go!" Rockman shouted, eyes meeting hers — and then more tentacles rose, twined around his arm, clogged his weapon, and forced it down. The remaining creatures came together, melting in a tidal wave twice Rockman's height. It reared up, stilling for an impossible moment over his head before crashing down with a triumphant cry.

Roll leaped backwards. When she refocused her eyes, she saw that the slime had stilled unnaturally fast into a poll as dark and shiny as crude oil. For a moment, there was no trace left of either Rock of his attacker: only a gently-rippled poll, black like pitch but glimmering like metal. Then the slime began to bubble over, and more creatures emerged from its depths, hissing in their malicious language.

She fled. What other option did she have?

Clutching Axl to her chest, Roll ran as fast as she could, until she saw, barely there, a portion of uncorrupted space, an area from which they could hopefully log out and away from that nightmare. She took one single, easier breath, her relief so thick she could almost taste it in her mouth, and then she tripped and fell. She turned frantically, eyes widening when she saw one of those tentacles wrapped firmly around her ankle, drawing both her strength and the very warmth of her core.

As she whipped back around, she saw that Axl had rolled a little ahead of her and was huddled on himself, too shocked to do anything more than sobbing quietly.

"Axl, honey," she began, and her face was determined and sweet and beautiful, as was her smile. "I want you to run now. To run towards that light, and teleport back home. All right?"

Axl shook his head frantically, curling tighter into himself.

"Axl," she repeated, sternly now, as the tendrils streamed further up her leg. "Roll-Oneesan has to stay back for a while. But you must go."

"No!" he looked up sharply, reaching forward with both hands. "Roll-Oneesan!" he wailed. "_Roll-Oneesan!_"

"_Stand back_!" she shouted, and Axl recoiled, making himself small. She smiled again then, a little pained smile, but still sweet. "Please?" she coaxed. "For me? And for Daddy and Papa. Go get Netto and Enzan. They will know what to do. They-" and she hated herself even as she said the lie "-will get your parents back, I promise."

Axl looked up, tears clinging to his eyelashes, and nodded once, slowly, picking himself up like a clumsy colt.

"Good Axl. Now go." She winced. "And don't turn back. Promise?"

Axl nodded meekly, and did as he'd been told. Behind him, the black wave rose, rolled soundlessly over Roll and she too was gone.

Axl ran.

And ran.

And ran.

But the patch of clearer digital space didn't seem to come any closer. It seemed to elude him, to taunt him, to move back just as he moved forward, preventing Axl from ever reaching it. He panted and cried and ran. Ran. Ran.

And then, the black wave was upon him as well.

Axl shrieked when then cold tide slammed into his body. He was whisked off his feet, flung up and backwards, curled on himself, rolling and spiralling across the slimy substance. The digital space about him shattered like glass, the shards glinting like wicked eyes, and he found himself falling down, down, in a darkly brilliant chasm, broken data rushing all around him, corrupted files streaming through the void like falling stars.

Just then, a light the likes of which he'd never seen before, a light that wasn't light at all but was darkness, red-hued and cold, slashed through the blobs surrounding him. A hand gripped his wrist, halting his fall.

A cold, but oddly familiar voice came to him through the void, then. A murmur like rushing waters, low yet harsh like glass shattering.

"It's you, then," the voice said. "The child of _those fools._"

And then Axl fainted, and knew no more.

**- Scene ****4 cleared.**

**NOW LOADING…**


	12. Stage 5: Maturation part E

**Title: **"Infecten – stage 5 – _Maturation 5/?_"

**Author:** Nemesi.

**Fandom:** (MMBN)

**Genre: **Romance. Humour.

**Word Count:** 2830.

**Characters/Pairings: **Blues/Rockman; Netto, Enzan, Axl mainly. Others mentioned.

**Rating:** PG-13.

**Disclaimer:** , its characters, places and themes belong to Capcom, Shogakukan, ShoPro, TV Tokio, etc.. No copyright infringement is intended.

**Warnings:** Shounen-ai. Un-betaed. Navi-preg (and I claim _ownership_ on this idea). OC.

**A/N:** In this stage, the disease fully develops into a chronic condition.

**Summary: **In which Roll is found, and Rock is not.

* * * * *

**T**hey found Roll inside IPC's main computer, unconscious but otherwise unharmed. Virus-scans confirmed that her data banks had been searched, but not tampered with.

She woke up to Rush's prodding, and with Glyde's palm on her forehead. She struggled to rise, feeling disoriented and a little nauseated, and was grateful when Gutsman let her lean on him for support. Blearily, she looked around herself, wanting to retch or wake up from this nightmare, and knowing she could do neither.

"…Netto-kun?" she called for, feebly.

The boy's face came into focus above her. Enzan's own face hovered next to his, flushed were Netto's was ashen, drawn and angry were Netto's own was slack with shock. The two didn't have a clear idea of what had happened; but Rock, Blues and Axl had vanished, their PETs flashed errors of all kinds, and chancing upon a semi-comatose Roll only confirmed their worst assumptions.

Roll took a look at their faces, and _knew_. Knew the others hadn't been found, knew Axl hadn't made it back home. She knew it. She _knew_.

She clung to her friends, struggling for breath, and gasped out, half-sobbing and half-whispering:

"Rock-kun…" and then: "Blues-kun… Axl…" She drew a sharper breath in, called "_Axl…_" once more, very softly. And broke down into sobs.

**C**oaxing a coherent story out of the distraught she-Navi wasn't the easiest thing in the world; but Roll was way tougher that her delicate looks might suggest, and determined to find her friends. In the span of an hour or so, and aided by Enzan's superior knowledge of electronics, all data she possessed about the ambush had been recovered, and the visual could be played on Enzan's laptop.

The way the creatures had targeted Axl from the beginning was suspicious, to say the least. The fact that they carried away the whole family, yet left Roll behind and untouched, hinted that she wasn't part of whatever mission they'd been imparted (it also implied that their brain-functions were somewhat limited too. What kind of kidnapper leaves a witness behind?! A kidnapper with a limited processing power, that's the kind).

From there, figuring what had happened and why wasn't much hard.

"Information on Navi pregnancy must have leaked," Enzan said, rubbing his face in an attempt to wake himself up. The ambush had taken place a measly three hours before, but it honestly felt like forever, he was so exhausted.

"Someone heard about Axl and his parents, and decided to get them." Netto inputted, dealing a resounding punch to his own palm. Enzan glanced at him – probably assessing if he ought to be worried or intervene – then back at his laptop.

"Judging by this log, the PC in the main hall as been tampered with, and I assure you, that's no easy feat," he clicked a few links, eyes narrowing in thought. "Same goes with the elevator."

Netto uttered a wail, then slumped dramatically in a chair opposite Enzan's.

"A virus breakthrough?"

"Not really, no. And the system hasn't been hacked either. Not _quite_. It's as though those _things_ were there to start with, but didn't materialize until it was time…"

"Blues said they weren't logging in, but springing from a sort of hidden flow," Roll said softly.

She sat in a corner of the monitor, wedged firmly between Glyde and Gutsman, and with Rush draped across her lap like a blanket. She felt chilly like never before, and nothing seemed to restore her right temperature. Even now, her breath tended to condensate out of her mouth every few sentences or so.

Enzan stilled, then nodded his head once, twice, considering.

"Yes," he said slowly. "That might be it." And he began to type away, as though to confirm his theory.

"That might be _what_?" Netto stretched across the desk to peer at the laptop. He found nothing new on the monitor, and even Roll seemed not to know what Enzan was talking about. "Enlighten us."

"Frequency," Enzan began, cupping his chin. Netto shook his head.

"Enzan, you're making no sense."

"Do you ever listen to music, when you're on a car?"

"…_what_?"

"Answer me."

Netto sank back into his chair, looking confused, but trusting Enzan to see him through.

"Sometimes, yeah."

"And usually, just as your favourite song comes up, some other transmission takes over and obliterates it."

"_YEAH_! That's so totally annoying, I mean…" Beat. "No way."

Enzan gave him a smile. A atta-boy!-I-knew-you'd-get-the-trick kind of smile.

"It's a matter of frequency. The two radios waves – the one you're listening to, and the one intruding – exist at the same time. They oscillate at different frequencies though, which is why you can hear either one or the other, depending on how you've tuned the receiver, but _never_ both. Unless they overlap by chance. "

"And radio waves," Netto supplied, "are electrical impulses, like Navis."

"And like Navis, they can travel the Net, and get _into_ a computer."

"So you're saying that those slimy things were being broadcasted at a frequency just slightly different that the one normally used on the Net, and by some freak accident got into IPC?"

Enzan shook his head.

"No. I'm saying that those creatures were being broadcasted at a frequency _meant_ to break into IPC. It was a trap."

And _what_ a trap. Brilliant in its stunning simplicity: stranded on a different frequency, with no chip to boost their combat abilities, unable to log out or communicate with either the Net or the real world, and with two people to protect, Blues and Rockman had been as good as helpless. Abducting them and Axl had been child's play.

"Damn."

"My thoughts exactly."

Netto racked a hand through his hair, nearly dislodging his bandanna in his worry.

"Who could do something like that?"

Enzan shrugged.

"Honestly? Someone inside IPC."

Roll gasped. Netto froze, gaping.

"…you're joking!"

Enzan's eyes went cold and narrow and gleaming, like shards of glass.

"I wish I were."

There followed a moment of silence, then Netto got on his feet with a tired sigh – the sigh of a weary old man, someone who's seen war and tested the cruelty of his kin on his own flash, and most certainly _not_ the sigh of a teenage boy – and skunked around the desk. He snatched a second laptop, made himself comfortable at Enzan's feet, and flicked it on.

"I check the new employees, you check those who've been fired since Axl was born and might hold a grudge?"

Enzan gave him an appraising, almost-grateful look, long but soft.

"Deal."

**O**ne hour later, Enzan had come to sit by Netto with his own laptop. Two hours, and they were stretched side by side. Three hours, and they were sharing the same laptop, confronting what data they'd gathered. Roll sat on a corner of the monitor, offering counsel, while Glyde, Rush and Gutsman logged in and out of the net, making cross-searches. Three hours and one minute, and the door of Enzan's office was… not exactly _kicked_, but most certainly shoved none-too-gently open.

Enzan had barely the time to look up and get a wide-eyed look on his face, that a massive hand swept down, caught him by the collar of his shirt, and yanked him to his feet like a rag doll. The hand was attached to bulging arm, this in turn attached to the body of one of Shuuseki's personal guards, a sort of burly giant with a shiny bald head, black shades and a earphone on the left side of his head.

Enzan was limp in the ogre's hand, not scared but rather non-amused, as though the situation was familiar and not-at-all out of the ordinary.

"Let me guess. Father needs me."

Instead than answering, the giant swivelled on his heels, and dragged the boy out of the room.

He'd obviously failed to take something into account: namely, one utterly enraged Hikari Netto, who roller-bladed after them with a shout, and pounced on the man's back. Sadly, Netto had made some miscalculations himself, because – no matter how hard he yanked, tugged, flailed, kicked and _bit _– the only thing he managed was to be dragged to Shuuseki's office, and flung inside like a sack of potatoes alongside Enzan.

Enzan helped him up with surprising calmness, then rounded on his father (whom he only saw at official business parties thrice at year, if at all) with a scowl.

"You _called_?"

Shuuseki linked his fingers together, surveying his son and that… _peasant_ _playmate_ of his with a cold look in his eyes.

"The stakes are out," he hissed, in a tone of voice that confused Enzan. "Hand over what information you secretly slipped to those Sci-Lab's rats, and I _might_ let you go unpunished this once."

…I so _not_ need to tell you the racket Enzan and Netto made, combined, as soon as those words were uttered.

"_Let me go unpunished_?!"

"And just who're you calling _rats_?!"

"Who do you think--"

"What gave you--"

"How dare--"

"_The Hell…!_"

And so on.

There followed a raw, loud and bitter, in which the boys kept finishing each other's sentences like telepaths and Mr. Ijuin kept making subtle threats first at one, then at them both. At one point, Netto blurted out that damn it, the Navis were _gone_, they needed to save them, so why didn't he shut up and let them go already?!

Shuuseki froze, then turned very calmly towards Enzan. A look of admiration flickered across his face when he accused his son of _staging the abduction_ to keep the miracle of Navi impregnation (and the profit it'd earn) solely for himself.

Furious with the accusation, disheartened by the loss of Blues and Axl, worried and weary, Enzan turned the accusation over to his father, grabbed Netto by the elbow, and stomped away.

Only when they were out in the hall did Enzan realize that his unwittingly voiced accusation might have been the truth: his own father might have ordered the abduction of Enzan's closet friend and his son, for no other reason than _money_.

Enzan sagged back against a wall, suddenly unable to support himself.

"Damn."

"My thoughts exactly,"Netto offered, gingerly putting a hand on Enzan's shoulder. "You okay?"

A mere three months before, had Netto voiced that question in such a situation, he'd have received a glare, an hissed insult and maybe a punch, not necessarily in this order. But many things had happened lately, and though Enzan did manage a glare, it distinctly lacked in the venom department.

"What do you think?"

"That you aren't. That's why I asked."

Enzan sighed.

"You'd be right then."

Netto helped Enzan away from the wall, and efficiently steered him down the corridor.

"That'd be a first."

"What, you being right?" Enzan inquired drily.

"You admitting that I am," Netto shot back. "Where to now? Your office? Home?"

Enzan visibly flinched.

"Mine or yours?" he inquired carefully.

"Mine," Netto answered, matter-of-factly.

Enzan nodded, looking relieved.

"Let's go."

**A**nd now, trusting that the boys will be fine on their own for a little while, we'll move onto what you _really_ want to know.

Namely, we switch into a cell of sorts, digital by the look of it, and proceed with the story, hoping for some fluff, but not really knowing what will get our way.

I can tell you that in that cell, kneeling by the wall, we find Blues checking every crevice and orifice for the HTML tag that controlled the door. Behind him, huddled on a pallet with his knees up was Rockman.

The Blue Bomber wore a look of intense worry etched on his face, his cheeks pale, mouth pink and swollen and totally kissable for having nibbled at it no-stop in his worried state.

"Blues…" he called softly, with an edge in his voice that wasn't quite panic, but came close enough. Blues titled his head towards him in a questioning gesture, and Rockman lowered his head. "Do you think…" he swallowed, then looked up, eyes red and gleaming wet. "Is Axl…?"

Blues turned back around, but not before Rockman could catch a glimpse of his face hardening and steeling itself.

"He's all right," with a mixture of briskness and warmth that was purely Blues. Rockman sighed, feeling reassured, and wrapped his arms tighter around his knees. There was a small infatuated smile on his face, embarrassed and adoring at once.

"Thanks."

Blues grunted out an answer, and kept searching. A few moments of this, then Rockman grew restless. He squirmed about, chewing on his bottom lip and shifting his eyes this way and that.

"…Blues?"

"_What?_"

The briskness of Blues's voice made Rockman flinch.

"I'm… I'm cold," he stuttered.

Blues heaved a sigh.

"It's an after effect of that slime. It froze your systems to roam them more freely. Move around a bit, and it'll pass."

"Oh."

Pouting. It was clear that he wanted more, but didn't dare ask. Instead he kept darting quick, inconspicuous glances at Blues from under his lashes, fidgeting like a girl left alone with her teacher-crush after class hours.

A while of this, then Blues made a frustrated sound. Going to his feet, he turned towards the pallet. Rockman looked at him like a puppy would look at his long-awaited, trice-beloved, very-much missed, food-carrying master, then crumpled on himself when Blues turned away, knelt before the other wall and began to search along it, all but ignoring Rockman.

Sighing, Rockman threw the blanket around himself, and curled into a pouting little ball of data.

"Stop that," he whined, with a twinge in his voice we might be inclined to define as morose. "We can't get out of here, and you _know_ it."

Blues paused briefly in his ministration, then shrugged.

"What I know is that there _is_ a catch, somewhere."

Rockman perked up immediately from the tangle of blankets.

"You do?" curiously, head tilted to a side as was his wont. "What do you mean?"

"I just _know_. Leave it at that."

Rockman recoiled again, hurt, and went back to his ball impersonation. Blues glanced at him out of the corner of his eye, then faced forward once more.

"…forgive me."

There followed a few moments of silence, then Blues felt a warm weight mould itself against his back. Rockman brought the blanket around them both, and folded slim but strong arms around Blues's waist. Dropping his head against Blues's shoulder, he released a sigh, half tearful, half relieved.

Blues stopped looking for a way out for a second, then resumed anew, taking no notice of the Navi plastered to his back.

Rockman fought off tears, and his voice was thick with sorrow when he whispered:

"Don't ignore me, Blues. Please. Not when I _need_ you…"

Blues reacted as though he'd been physically struck, and curled in himself, head lowered, fists clenched, pain spreading through him like poison.

"…I'd--- I'd never abandon you, Rockman." He said softly. "I can never say this to your face, but you're everything to me. I will never let anything come between us."

Rockman nuzzled his face against Blues's shoulder, his long eyelashes dewed with tears.

"It's just… sometimes it feels like you don't want me. Like you don't even _like_ me, and it hurts. Because I love you so much, Blues, and you don't."

Blues steeled himself. Reaching up, he began his search anew.

"I told you. It's not that. But I can never bare my heart completely. Not to anyone, and not to _you_. Call it fear, or pride, or a glitch, if you must. All I know is that the more I love you, the harder it gets for me to tell you."

Rockman smiled gently.

"You silly Navi." He chided softly. Reaching out, he traced his finger along the line of Blues's jaw, awestruck at the beauty before him. He leaned forward to place a kiss on Blues's cheek, his own tears warm and salty against his lips. "You just did."

"On the contrary," Blues answered, snapping a code. The cell door immediately swung open, evaporating into pixels.

Blues went to his feet, and turned towards his kneeling companion. Rockman was looking up at him, face pink and trusting, lips curved in a smile, eyes glittering and warm and beautiful. The blanket was draped across him, drooping from his shoulder as though it was too big for him, enhancing the illusion of childish innocence he projected.

It was like that, that he was deleted.

Blues deactivated his sword with a shudder, and had to lean against the wall for a moment or two.

"On the contrary," he told the dark slime gushing at his feet, which was all that remained of the fake Navi. "It's because you were _not_ Rockman, that I was able to tell you out loud how I feel for him."

Turning, he ran.

But he doubted he could ever escape that last, lingering image, that loving acceptance glowing on Rockman's — _that fake_ _Rockman's_ face as Blues deleted him.

**- Scene ****5 cleared.**

**NOW LOADING…**


	13. Stage 5: Maturation part F

Considering I'd decided to post a chapter every two weeks, this is a little late, as are my replies to your wonderful, wonderful reviews. I apologize for the tardiness but I've been ill (other than very busy, as usual). I'll try to answer your reviews now. :)

**Title: **"Infecten – stage 5 – _Maturation 6/?_"

**Author:** Nemesi.

**Fandom:** (MMBN)

**Genre: **Romance. Humour.

**Word Count:** 3282.

**Characters/Pairings: **Blues/Rockman; Netto, Enzan, Axl mainly. Others mentioned.

**Rating:** PG-13.

**Disclaimer:** , its characters, places and themes belong to Capcom, Shogakukan, ShoPro, TV Tokio, etc.. No copyright infringement is intended.

**Warnings:** Shounen-ai. Un-betaed. Navi-preg (and I claim _ownership_ on this idea). OC.

**A/N:** In this stage, the disease fully develops into a chronic condition.

**Summary: **And Rock couldn't help but wonder, aghast, _what had they done to his Blues?_

* * * * *

**N**ow, in a digital cell so similar to the one from the previous chapter you'd think we'd run out of funds and had to use the same set for two different scenes, one very familiar blue-clad Navi was opening his eyes on a ragged pallet, and shooting to a seating positing with a cry of alarm.

He put a hand to his thumping core, and called out "Blues…" a second time, feeling shock and guilt and sorrow and a fierce need for revenge well up inside him.

"I'm here."

The voice was like the stuff of dreams. It seemed both real and imagined at the same time, its presence almost too good to be true.

Rockman stumbled to his feet, heart in his throat. Swirling around, he saw Blues advance from the shadows near the gaping door. The red Navi held himself stiffly, like a wary animal, but was apparently undamaged.

"You… you're safe!" Rockman whispered around the lump in his throat.

Blues allowed himself a smile, then schooled his face in all haste.

"It's good to see you, too."

Rockman blinked, surprised that Blues was keeping his distance, hovering close to the door rather than come up to him. For a moment, Rockman felt, for lack of a nicer comparison, like a child whose candy had been stolen – the candy being, in this case, a hug or a kiss or anything else from the cuddling department from Blues.

He pouted for a second, then promptly berated himself. What had he been expecting? To be whisked off his feet (as usual, we might add)? To see the Red Navi drop on one knee in front of him and kiss his hand? Or better yet, to be hauled over Blues's shoulder (for the umpteenth time since they met) and carried to safety (or the closest cuddly spot, whichever came first)?

Silly Rockman.

Silly, _silly_ Rockman.

But _silly_ Rockman was determined to get some physical contact, anyway. And what Rockman wanted, silly or not, Rockman got. _Period_.

Smiling – and with his eyes a little wet – Rockman walked the distance between them and wrapped his arms around Blues's waist, feeling a small measure of comfort when Blues curled an arm around his shoulder, not relaxing into Rockman's touch, but not shying away from it either.

"I thought you'd been taken from me," Rockman admitted softly, feeling the familiar pinprick of tears in his eyes.

"You know I'm stronger than that."

A point Rockman couldn't deny, but it wasn't the words that worried him, and not even the tone, weary as it'd been.

It was the body language.

Blues was holding himself stiffly, poised like a trapped tiger that crouches in a corner, waiting for the hunter to deliver the killing shot. He was stiff, tense, guarded, his jaw set and his shoulders squared. In short, he was behaving as though he didn't trust Rockman, and expected to be backstabbed at any given moment.

Pushing himself a little away, Rockman tilted his head up to study Blues's face. His eyebrows furrowed together in worry; his look gained a searching, pleading edge that wasn't lost on his mate.

Grimacing slightly, Blues tightened his hold on Rockman. Sagging suddenly, he pulled Rockman closer to his chest, as though trying to set him there like a precious jewel.

"Sorry," he said roughly, not meeting Rockman's eyes. "I'm not being myself."

Rockman exhaled a long breath, rearranged himself comfortably against Blues's chest and listened to the quite thumping of his core.

"Did something happen…?"

Blues seemed to go stiff, then slackened, tightening his arms around Rockman in a possessive manner.

"…I'd rather not talk about it."

Rockman nodded wordlessly, understanding clear in his eyes. Something wasundoubtedlybothering Blues, and he wasn't ready to talk about it. Rockman took a silent vow to be there for him when that time came, and burrowed deeper inside Blues's embrace, ever the supporting boyfriend (companion? husband? Will you two PLEASE choose a term within the next _century_?).

Blues put his chin on the crow of Rockman's head, gazing at a point somewhere behind and above Rockman, obviously lost in thought, his muscles corded and bulging hard.

There followed a few moments of silence, then Rockman stiffened and wrenched himself away from Blues, core racing.

"Axl! What happened to him?! What--"

"He wasn't taken."

The words caused Rockman to sigh in relief, though the jaded tone bothered him. Without noticing, he gently began to rub Blues's arms, sliding his palms up and down, up and down the biceps, as though warming Blues's body might serve to melt his coldness.

"Roll-chan must've taken him away in time," he offered in a soft voice.

Blues turned his attention sharply towards him.

"Roll-chan, you say?" he began slowly, and the line of his jaw worked for a moment or two, as though he was deep in thought, or listening to something in the distance. He nodded, at last, and turned his attention back to the far wall. "That must be so."

Despite his best resolutions, Rockman's mouth began to tremble. Blues hadn't been so cold and wary of him in… _no._ He'd been thinking that Blues hadn't been this distant since the first few days of their acquaintance, but that wasn't true. Even back then, when Blues was denying himself, hiding his true colours and regarding Rockman as nothing more than a bothersome little kid, there hadn't been _such_ a guarded intent in Blues's demeanour.

Actually, Blues was treating Rockman as though he wasn't… well, _Rockman_. But that was impossible, wasn't it? Why would Blues mistreat him, or doubt his identity? Unless their captors had done something to…?

Core thumping, systems grappling against the sick worry – _what did they do to you, Blues? _– Rockman pressed himself back against Blues, moulded their bodies together with the foolish hope to melt the wall that divided them.

Blues allowed the touch, suffered through it, but didn't return the gesture, still wary, still haughty and battle-ready. Rockman was fighting panic, now. Looking up, he put his hand on Blues's cheek, searched fruitlessly for his eyes through the visor, and felt alarms of all kinds go off inside his core.

"What is it? What's wrong? _Blues_…"

"…nothing. Nothing is wrong."

"Don't lie, Blues! Not to me…" Rockman implored.

Blues looked down at him, but the visor and the low light worked together to hid all traces of emotions on his face.

"…do you really want to know?"

"Of course! I don't know what they did to you, but I'm always here for you, Blues!"

"Rockman…"

"Tell me," he coaxed gently.

The soft, un-Rockman tone made Blues's mouth quirk at the edges, but the resulting look was too dark to be called a smile.

"I woke up long before you did, in another cell, and went looking for you…" He captured Rockman's hand with his own, and put a kiss in the middle of his palm.

Rockman, who should've been relieved by the gesture, flinched at it, going stiff with dread.

"As I searched this place, I stumbled upon our captors, and they told me something interesting—"

Blues continued to place soft kisses down Rockman's hand, to his wrist, along his arm, bending to nuzzle the tender curve at the inside of his elbow, nibbling gently at it.

"—if they took us, it's because we can _procreate._ They can't understand how that's possible, and offered me a bargain: if we replicate the miracle and give the child to them, I can go back to my Enzan-sama."

Rockman felt numb by now. He stared wide-eyed at Blues, fighting off a wave of nausea.

"—so I've been thinking—"

Softly, a purring caress against Rockman's ear, a hissing promise that made him go numb.

_"—why don't we give them what they want, sweet Rockman?"_

Blues tugged Rockman closer, harshly; and Rockman was pliant in his arms, not out of passion, but of betrayal.

Grinning approvingly, Blues sank his mouth in the crook of Rockman's neck, and bit down on the tender throat; one of his hands clamped painfully around Rockman's wrist, leaving bruises. The other slithered down Rockman's back, the nails digging painfully in his hip, clawing at the small of his back…

…and this is when the truth flared inside Rockman's brain. He pushed Blues off and sent him slamming against the wall. Leaping back, he went into a crouch, and pointed the business end of his buster at the red Navi.

"You…" he began slowly, shivering still, but with rage now. "…are _not_ Blues."

Blues picked himself up from the floor, smirking a cold little smirk all the while.

"Aw, Rockman. _Come on_. Can't you take it when I'm a little bit harsher on you?"

"Shut up, whoever you are!"

"You know who I am…" Blues leered, stepping closer, arms opened enticingly.

Rockman aimed the buster higher.

"Oh, right. Of course I know. You…" his buster began to glow with energy "…are a _fake_."

Blues stopped moving, swaying a little on the spot. There was a moment of silence, then his smirk grew wider, and wider still, a dark, gaping cut, entirely too large for that beautiful face, and filled with fangs.

"How did you guess?"

"Blues…" Rockman began, furiously, "…_my_ Blues isn't that cold! He isn't one that would bend his will to the demands of others like that. He wouldn't _use_ me!"

The fake Blues threw back his head and laughed, his body shaking oddly, like a sheet rippling in the wind.

"Mh. It seems we got his personality wrong. He is so cold and unforgiving in public, so loyal to his _precious_ little Net-Op. We had no reason to suspect he'd be any different in his private life."

Rockman bit his bottom lip before he could yell out that Blues was a wonderful Navi, a loyal and tender lover, a devoted father, and also the bravest, most passionate warrior he knew.

"He is," he summed up.

Fake Blues shook his head in amazement, expelling a hollow chuckle. The façade was starting to blur at the edges now, to waver, and Rockman thought he could see through the image of the fake Blues and into a poll of that horrible, churning slime.

"Well, good for us that _your_ personality is so easy to replicate, then. We'll still get a newborn Navi to study."

Okay, stop.

Rockman stiffened again, eyes going wide.

That cheap copy wasn't implying that…

Fake Blues expelled an amused laugh, visor flashing oddly again, two dots of green light now visible underneath.

"Give the boy a prize! He figured it out! Yes," he purred, once his laughter had subsided. "A copy of you is with him at the moment, begging for reassurance, for comfort. Begging for his _touch_…"

Rockman's buster fizzled, lit up, burned.

It fired.

A few seconds later, Rockman barrelled out of the cell, the echo of Fake Blues's final shriek of pain lodged like a thorn in the middle of his forehead. He plastered himself against the opposite wall, feverish cheek to cold metal, gasping and shuddering and retching dry.

It took him a full five minutes to compose himself – cheap copy or not, the Navi he'd just deleted had had the likeness of Blues, his Blues, his _love, _Blues, Blues, where are you, what have they done to you, what have _I_ done? Oh, Blues, Blues, _Blues_…

Once he'd gathered his wits, Rockman chose a random direction and began to walk, trailing his hand along the wall like a lost child.

Soon enough he was deep into a maze of corridors, peeking into dirty hexagonal cells in a futile attempt to find a clue on his whereabouts. As he looked up from one of such inspections, Rockman saw another Blues round a corner and run a few steps towards him. Upon seeing each other, both Navis stopped in their tracks, seemingly shocked, then leaped back into a crouch, weapons at the ready.

"Let me pass, and I won't delete you," Blues warned.

Rockman's face contracted with pain or sorrow, then steeled itself.

"You wish." He began to charge his buster, and took aim. "I don't know how many more of you I'll have to dispose of…" he shuddered. "But I'm not taking any risk."

Blues narrowed his eyes.

"I mean it," he warned, tone low. "I'll spare you if you retreat now. But if you hinder me, I won't hesitate to delete you."

Rockman's mouth trembled, imperceptibly so. That last phrase had been so uniquely _Blues_. The call of duty, shining strong yet clashing with the affection for Rockman in his voice.

This fake was much closer to the original than the other one, Rockman realized in silent dismay. It was _perfect_. He mightn't be able to fight him. Not to the finish.

"Good one," he praised, feigning cockiness. "But you're _not_ getting away."

The agony in his eyes was heart-piercing. Blues raised his sword, looking equally as reluctant, as hurt, as Rockman felt. His mouth parted around a deeper breath, then his head was hung low, silver hair wavering against his back.

In the next instant, the two Navis had leaped at one another. Buster and blade met with a clash of metal and a shower of sparks; then the Navis leaped back, lips pulled back in a grimace, but unarmed.

They studied each other from their crouched position, then leaped again. Their weapons met again, but this time the two Navis held their ground, each trying to push the other off-balance.

Seeing an opening, Rockman risked a high-kick. Blues disengaged himself, ducking away, and swung his blade at Rockman, who leaped out of the way barely in time. Cringing, he went for a punch, and when his wrist was grabbed, just as he'd planned, he used Blues's own hold as leverage for another kick. Blues apparently saw it coming. He parried the blow easily, and spun out of the way, losing his grip on Rockman.

There was another clash and reel episode, the clang of their weapons echoing eerily in the vaulted hall. Rockman disengaged, then aimed a shot at Blues. But just before Rockman's buster could fire, Blues vanished, leaving Rockman lunging in the air at nothing. He felt Blues reappear right behind him and swivelled around to block his blade, but was shocked to see he had vanished again.

Blues charged at him from behind, using his superior speed to push the smaller Navi back. Each strike he delivered was blocked, but just barely. Sensing that he was about to the backed into a wall, Rockman gritted his teeth and shot, aiming at Blues's chest. The swordsnavi side-stepped and charged at Rockman's exposed flank.

His blade cut through Rockman's suit, but did little damage to the Blue Navi himself, who retaliated using Blues's own momentum against him. Spinning so that he was behind Blues, Rockman aimed a blow between his shoulder blades. Not one to be taken by surprise, Blues spun towards his opponent even as he reeled forward for the blow, and kicked him on his wounded side, smacking Rockman back against the wall.

The blue Navi twirled around, and brought his buster down on Blues's sword, sending the Red Navi momentarily off-balance. The blade grated against the wall, raining sparks. Rockman elbowed Blues in the chest, then aimed a punch to his chin.

Blues moved backwards, swinging at Rockman's head. This time, the blade grazed Rockman's neck, cutting through suit and skin. The small blue Navi dodged sideways and rolled away from the wall.

The two were crouching at a safe distance now; each studying the other for any possible weakness, each panting and gritting his teeth. There flashed something like admiration in their eyes, and something like pain, though not of the physical kind. Then they moved, and they did it as one.

Rockman held up his buster, firing a quick volley of plasma shots, just as Blues speeded towards him. It was smoke ammo that Rockman was using, and soon enough they both were surrounded by a thick, dark cloud.

It didn't seem to impair Blues in the slightest. He kept running, dodging each shot as though he could see them more clearly now that he could before, and finally reached the spot where he'd last seen Rockman. He swiped at the fog, but his charged blade met nothing.

Rockman wasn't there.

Not _anymore_.

Blues looked around himself in anger and confusion for a moment, then he felt it. He jerked his head up, just in time to see Rockman descend on him, buster glowing with energy.

It fired.

It _hit_.

Blues brought up his sword even as he fell, and it also met its target.

They both fell, and they both cried out in pain as they did.

When the smoke cleared, Blues was pinned underneath Rockman, his helmet cracked open where the plasma shot had singed it, and with the flaming tip of Rockman's buster an hairsbreadth away from his face.

Above him, Rockman was painting heavily, sporting a similar damage on his helmet, and with the glowing edge of Blues's sword grazing his neck with dangerous pressure.

There was a moment of stillness, then Rockman fell upon Blues with a cry, and Blues caught him, cradling him, rocking him.

"It's you! It's _really_ you! Blues! Blues!"

"_Rock_…"

He pressed kisses to the blue helmet, the feverish forehead and cheek, until, suddenly, Rockman surged up and pushed their mouths together. Aligning, their cores began to flare with light and to pulsate in unison, which conveniently helped heal their superficial damage (ah, the wonders of digital partnership!).

Pulling back to catch his breath, Rockman offered a grin to his mate (they chose a term! _Halleluiah_!), squeezed him once, then leapt to his feet. Blues accepted Rockman's help up, and tangled their fingers together in a possessive manner.

"You had to fight a copy of me." It wasn't a question. Not after what had just happened.

Rockman's face darkened, and he looked down.

"And you had to deal with a copy of _me_."

He tried to keep the bitterness out of his voice, but failed. Blues tugged him close, not hugging him, but still offering comfort.

"Yes. And it wasn't pleasant."

Which Rockman correctly understood as: "He didn't fool me for one minute, and nothing happened, you jealous little thing."

Smiling, Rockman pecked Blues on the lips.

"Gosh, I missed you."

"Likewise." Blues smirked, before dipping his head to take a second, slower taste of the mouth that was so graciously being offered to him, and then Rockman was all over him in a perfect replica of the Gone-with-the-wind movie scene, you know, the one with the kiss and the sunset and the kiss and the… well, _kiss_, and since we don't really have a sunset handy at the moment, the only similarity here was in the, you guessed it, _kiss_.

Now, rules of decency demand that we move the camera discreetly away and give the Navis some well-deserved privacy.

…

…

…I'll be damned if I do that.

That kiss was long overdue, let me tell you.

Long.

Overdue.

And long lasting, too.

Hopefully, the audience might be inclined to forgive the author's indiscretion, as well as this suddenly bout of cuddliness that took our heroes in the middle of the enemy's stronghold. It might help their case telling you that, as Blues and Rockman kissed, their cores aligned once more, sharing whatever data they'd gathered since their abduction.

It might not look like much, but it was the first step to finding their way home. That it happened to be a rather pleasurable step was just a fortunate bonus…

**- Scene ****6 cleared.**

**NOW LOADING…**


	14. Stage 5: Maturation part G

**Title: **"Infecten – stage 5 – _Maturation 7/?_"

**Author:** Nemesi.

**Fandom:** (MMBN)

**Genre: **Romance. Humour.

**Word Count:**2575.

**Characters/Pairings: **Blues/Rockman; Netto, Enzan, Axl mainly. Others mentioned.

**Rating:** PG-13.

**Disclaimer:** , its characters, places and themes belong to Capcom, Shogakukan, ShoPro, TV Tokio, etc.. No copyright infringement is intended.

**Warnings:** Shounen-ai. Un-betaed. Navi-preg (and I claim _ownership_ on this idea). OC. Some language.

**A/N:** In this stage, the disease fully develops into a chronic condition.

**Summary: **Two Navis out of the three who'd been kidnapped have already woken up. Let's go see how the remaining one faired, shall we?

* * * * *

**T**wo Navis out of the three who'd been kidnapped have already woken up. Let's go see how the remaining one faired, shall we?

Axl was floating on the verge of consciousness, suspended in that limbo between sleep and waking moments. He was only vaguely aware of his surroundings – he knew he was laying on a hard surface in a dimly lit place, but that was just about it. His ears buzzed, and he felt cold; so much so, that he almost couldn't feel the tips of his fingers and toes, and his nose seemed all but gone from his face.

Paying attention not to move, ere he jolted something inside himself, Axl ran a quick diagnostic of his systems, like Yuuichiro-Ojiichan had taught him to do. Luckily, there was nothing wrong with him. Only his audio-systems had apparently clammed down on their own, probably to block out some huge noise or another during his fall.

Tampering with his acoustic sensors, he became aware of a raw taking place somewhere in the vicinity.

"…I don't give a _shit_!" someone yelled. "You take him away right _now_!"

"If you would just _listen_…" a second voice answered; and it was the voice of Axl's mysterious rescuer, malicious and cruel and warm, familiar and odd at once, as though it was a voice Axl knew, knew _very well_, but something was distorting it beyond recognition.

"I bloody hell aren't going to _listen_! Some nerve you've got! You barge in my territory like you _own_ it, drop this kid on my doorstep and pretend I do – what? _Babysit_ him? Like I give a damn! Get lost now, before I _make you_!"

Axl, bewildered by the harsh language being used, was also amazed at the levels of familiarity this other voice could reach. Inconspicuously, he tried opening his eyes – just a crack – and shifted his gaze around.

His sight was blurry, due to fact that his eyes were still mostly closed, but Axl could make out a blur of yellow-decked purple not too far to his right. It was gesturing wildly and hissing like a cat at an unmovable blur of burgundy red and grey and violet, which was also considerably taller than the other one. Axl wished he could see them better, but didn't dare open his eyes any more.

"If you," began Axl's rescuer, the red-and-grey blur, "kept quiet long enough to actually _listen_ to me…"

There was a screech like a psychotic cat with PMS.

"I'll give you 'keep quiet'!"

"…you'll find out it is in your own interest to protect the child. Whom, for the records, was awakened by your rather cheap imitation of a _banshee_."

Both blurs turned towards him – the purple one sharply and angrily, the other with a dignity befitting of a royal — and Axl squeezed his eyes closed as tight as he could, gritted his teeth, clenched his fists, and went ramrod stiff.

"…"

"…"

"…"

"…oh _please_," the purple blur snorted. "As if _that_ wasn't a dead give away that you're awake."

Axl broke into a cold sweat as he realized he'd been discovered, but gave no indication that he was awake or listening.

All was silent for a moment, then fingers came a pinched Axl's nose shut. Axl held his breath (for the sake of this story, Navis _do_ breathe) but a sudden sharp poke on the side caused him to leap off the cold, hard something he was lying upon, to the equally cold and hard floor below. Picking himself up to a seated position, Axl half-pouted, half-scowled at the meanies towering above him.

Well, pout and scowl were his intended actions. In all truth, the moment he managed to get a clear view of them, his jaw dropped open so violently in shock, it almost dislocated itself.

The purple blur – which turned out to be a purple Navi – stood above him, hands on his hips, red cat-like eyes glowing. The other blur – also a Navi, burgundy and considerably taller, as mentioned before – flanked him, arms hanging limply at his sides in an idle, but highly impressive pose.

"Shut that mouth you," spat the purple Navi.

Axl obeyed on reflex, gaining himself an impressed eyebrow-hoist.

"Well, he's well-trained, at least. Who would the pest be?"

"You mean he doesn't look familiar?" inquired the burgundy Navi.

The purple one narrowed his eyes, then recoiled suddenly, wheezing in surprise.

"What the—those _eyes_! Those are _Rockman's_ eyes! The _hell_—?"

At that point in time, Axl recovered enough sense to ask:

"Daddy? Papa?"

With the most adorable, most confused frown _ever_.

The purple Navi went still. Then his cheek began to twitch, violently. To this day, we aren't sure if it was an allergic reaction to the cute-cute-cute vibes coming from Axl, or to the idea of being a "daddy" or a "papa".

Dipping his head, the burgundy Navi pulled back his lips in a feral smile, revealing vampiric, glowing-white fangs.

"Not quite right, young one. Let me introduce us. I am the one who was once called Dark Blues. This fiendish creature here was born to the name of Dark Soul Rockman. As for our relation with the original Rockman and Blues, we are their – ah – _better parts_, as far as I'm concerned."

Axl took them both in with a long look, those dark twins of their parents, and blinked.

"Ah. _Ok!_" Totally unfazed, bless him. Then, brightly: "So you _do_ know Daddy and Papa! That's good! I'm not supposed to talk to strangers, you know, because Enzan-Ojichan says strangers could steal me away, but I don't think I could be stolen, because _things_ are stolen, but Navis aren't things, they are _people_, and people don't get _stolen_, they get _kidnapped_, but if you know Daddy and Papa then you aren't strangers, and if you aren't strangers then it's all right for me to talk to you but — _oh_! but I haven't introduced myself yet, have I? Then I am the one who's a stranger to you, and you're not supposed to talk to strangers either, are you? So I must tell you my name, and my name is Axl! Nice to meet'cha!" Sticking his hand out for a shake.

Dark Soul Rockman twitched, and glanced at the other Darkloid in mild disgust. When he turned back around, he found that Axl had dropped his hand and was leaning towards him, eyes huge and unblinking, like a curious little howl.

"You aren't my Papa. But you look _juuuuuuuuuuust like him_." Solemnly, enunciating it like it was a sentence, and of the utmost importance, too.

Dark Soul Rockman twitched once more.

"Netto-Ojichan also looks like Papa," Axl added. "I mean, kinda, it's all in the eyes anyway, and the height, and he says they look alike because they're brothers, and it's because they're brothers that I get to call Netto-Ojichan Netto-Ojichan, and if you look like Papa, and you—" pointing at Dark Blues, now. "—like Daddy, does that mean you are my Ojichan, too?"

Dark Soul Rockman, not surprisingly, twitched _yet_ _again_.

"No, because, I was looking for a _cousin_, you know, but Obachan says I can get it only from an "uncle", but a blood-related uncle, and I don't have many of those, actually just one, which'd be Netto-Ojichan, but if you are a…"

…guess who twitched at this point?

"Cousins? _Uncles?!" _Dark Soul Rockman exploded, throwing his arms in the air. "What's this kid… _mental_?!"

"No, I'm _Axl_!"

_"ARGH!"_

Dark Blues crossed his arms, arranging himself in an even haughtier stance.

"I am afraid "uncles" is not the term I'd use to refer to the two of us, little one."

"_…no?_" Doing his number where the cat-ears on his helmet flattened themselves down and his bottom lip jugged out.

"NO!" Confirmed Dark Soul Rockman. "If you truly have to know we are…"

"…your second set of parents." Dark Blues finished for him. "You _do_ have our DNA, after all."

Immediately, Axl released a squeal, clapping his hands together in delight. _Two_ Papas and _two_ Daddies?! All for him?! Oh, yes, yes, yes, _YES_! That had to be his lucky day! He though, clapping still.

Dark Soul Rockman's reaction was a _tad_ less enthusiastic. He swivelled towards Dark Blues, and gaped at him in shock for the whole of a minute. Then, snapping his mouth shut, he straightened and jerked his thumb over his shoulder.

"You. Me. Explanations. _Now_."

And, turning on his heels, he marched a little away and stood waiting for Dark Blues, arms crossed and tapping his feet imperiously.

Dark Blues bowed at the waist towards Axl (who bowed right back, the polite little thing) and glided over to Dark Soul Rockman.

The two talked in hushed whispers for a while – of what , we all know: Navi pregnancies, Rockman and Blues being an item, their abduction, and last but not least, they reflected on the shocking, but undeniable fact that, if Axl was the son of their Originals, he really was an half son to the two of them.

As soon as those words were uttered, Dark Soul Rockman reached out to swap Dark Blues's hand away from himself (it wasn't even doing anything fishy, that poor hand; it had just happened to move as Dark Blues illustrated his point).

The Kagemusha sidestepped him, with the ease that comes from being subjected to such attacks every hour of the day. Dark Soul Rockman growled and re-crossed his arms across his chest, frowning, not _pouting _(_Rockman_ pouted, and Rockman he was _not_), regaining his dignity with the ease that comes, in turn, from seeing his attempts at abuse fail every hour of the day.

"So the grinning fool fell in love with the shining knight and had the pup. Which concerns me _how_, you grey-haired leech?" he took a step towards Axl, who still waited in his squatted position on the floor, legs on either side of him and head tilted, like a puppy. "Unless you're giving him up to me to be deleted – that'd be one hell of a nice gift. I bet his loss would make Rockman suffer. Really much."

Obligatory explanation – Dark Soul Rockman didn't really like the original Rockman. Okay, understatement of the century – he didn't like him _at all_. Okay, okay, he _loathed_ him. There.

However, being Rockman's Darkloid persona sort of put a dampen to his plans to hurt his nemesis. He was, to put it simply, Rockman's shadow. And shadows can't exist, if there is nothing there to cast them, do they? As things stood, if Dark Soul Rockman deleted Rockman, he might then develop a bug that would lead him to a slow and painful demise.

How _frustrating_.

Dark Soul Rockman distinctly thought that there should be people who got paid to separate Originals from their Darkloid personas and made sure the latter could delete the former without consequences.

Dark Blues waited for his companion to stop pacing, then came over and grabbed his elbow, earning himself a cat-like hiss.

"We must _protect_ the child, not harm him."

"Protect?" Dark Soul Rockman jerked himself free as though burned. He very much resembled a cat at that moment: back arched, all ruffled and hissing, red eyes burning like coals.

No one – _no one_, could touch him without his express, written, trice signed and lawyer-approved permission.

No.

One.

Especially _not_ the red-visored leech. Whenever it happened, something inside him twisted and pulled painfully; and while Dark Soul Rockman _did_ like pain on a general basic, his own was the only exception.

"…whyever would I want to protect Rockman's son, of all things?" He snarled, once his breathing had evened out.

"For a number or reasons, you hellish catboy. The main of which being that our counterparts are being held hostage in Kyuraweil Keep_._"

Dark Soul Rockman sobered suddenly, switching into business-like mode in the blink of an eye.

Almost a year before, an unknown power had retrieved their data from the Graveyard, the realm where the remains of all deleted Navis were stored, and imbued them with new life. It hadn't been an act of kindness, though – stored in a floating castle by the name of Kyuraweil Keep, the two Darkloids had been used as guinea pigs for a number of experiments.

Luckily, Dark Blues and Dark Soul Rockman had each ten times as much power as most of the slimy sentries that guarded Kyuraweil, and managed to escape shortly after their capture. However, that didn't mean they made it out unharmed.

Weak, furious, they went to lick their wounds in the depths of the Uranet (that dark, taboo server that stands underneath the normal network), forced together by circumstance more than will.

If we want to be honest, there wasn't _any_ love lost between them. They acted as though they despised one another, using cutting remarks and physical violence in their everyday dealings. Yet, they were constantly together, one the shadow of the other, biding their time, watching, waiting for the perfect chance to upturn Kyuraweil and take their revenge.

On one side, Dark Soul Rockman really didn't want to help his Original, even if it'd save his own life in the end. On the other, he knew that if the four of them managed to get inside Kyuraweil, blow it up would be as easy as stealing a child's candy.

…sweet revenge is _sweet_.

"I'm in," Dark Soul Rockman said, summoning his buster. "What's the plan?"

Dark Blues smirked approvingly at him.

"I knew you would see reason, in the end."

Dark Soul Rockman graced him with another snarl, then turned towards Axl. The child was looking expectantly at them, one arm trusted in the air like a schoolboy seeking the teacher's attention, and bouncing a little on the spot.

"…_what_?"

"What do I call you? I mean, Ojichan is nice, but it'd get confusing to call you just "Ojichan", 'cause I've got many Ojichan already, like Netto-Ojichan and Enzan-Ojichan and Glyde-Ojichan and Meijin-Ojichan; besides, Dark-Soul-Rockman-Ojichan is a little too long, especially if I needed you to come quickly, and then Dark Blues Ojichan said that you _were_ called like that, which means those _aren't_ your names anymore, and you've got new ones now, which I want to know, so _when we go back to Papa and Daddy_ -" notice the no-argument, no-funny-business tone, "-I know what to call you."

Dark Soul Rockman twitched for the umpteenth time, obviously affected (and not pleasantly) by the kid's personality. Dark Blues laughed, a sound that was cruel but also eerily pleasant, like silver and crystal wind chimes.

"Why, but isn't he smart? He got it from my side of the family, no doubt."

Dark Soul Rockman elbowed him in the stomach. Or tried to, seeing that Dark Blues easily sidestepped the blow, as was their routine.

"Call me Kuro," he answered in a curt, clipped tone. "The leech here goes by the name of Kage."

Axl brightened.

"Black and Shadow! Is that 'cause you're like Daddy and Papa but darker? 'cause if you blackened Papa's outfit, or saw Daddy in the shadows, they'd look just like _you_!"

…lucky for Axl that Kage was _that_ quick. Or else, he'd be struggling with a hopping mad Kuro, right now. The purple Darkloid really didn't appreciate it, when his similarity with Rockman was remarked so blatantly upon.

Oh, well. Looks like the three were in for an interesting… err… _unknown amount of time_.

**- Scene ****7 cleared.**

**NOW LOADING…**

* * *

…_so, how many of you were expecting THAT twist? :D_

_I apologize to those who were expecting to see Forte here, but I love these two Darkloids too much not to use them. Besides, their presence makes more than sense, seeing what's going to happen in the chapters to come, while Forte's own would've been… hard to explain, at least for this Stage. ^^;;_

_If you want to see a sketch of Kuro and Kage, you can find it at this URL: . _

_It wasn't made for this story, and even if Kuro has obviously no qualms about touching/being touched by Kage in this sketch, I figured it'd be nice to provide the right visual! :D_


	15. Stage 5: Maturation part H

**Title: **"Infecten – stage 5 – _Maturation 8/?_"

**Author:** Nemesi.

**Fandom:** (MMBN)

**Genre: **Romance. Humour.

**Word Count:**2˙264.

**Characters/Pairings: **Blues/Rockman; Netto, Enzan, Axl mainly. Others mentioned.

**Rating:** PG-13.

**Disclaimer:** , its characters, places and themes belong to Capcom, Shogakukan, ShoPro, TV Tokio, etc.. No copyright infringement is intended.

**Warnings:** Shounen-ai. Un-betaed. Navi-preg (and I claim _ownership_ on this idea). OCs.

**A/N:** In this stage, the disease fully develops into a chronic condition.

**Summary: **

* * * * *

**I**f you think a lot of things happened in the Cyberworld, then brace yourself, because life in the real world had been even _more_ hectic – all swirls and turns and stomach-churning spins, kinda like a roller coaster, but without the safety belt.

Immediately after their bitter raw with Shuuseki, Enzan and Netto had gone to regroup at the Hikari household. When they arrived, Yuuichiro was still out, holed up inside Sci-Labs as per usual. Haruka, however, managed to surprise them with two mugs of hot chocolate.

How she had known the exact moment they would have stepped over the threshold will forever remain a mystery; but knew it she did, because the cocoa was still steaming hot when they arrived, but the marshmallows inside had yet to start melting. Let's sign it off as a work of the Amazing Perceptive Power Of Worried Moms and leave it at that. She was special like that.

Enzan reached for the mug like it was a poisonous snake, and began to sip carefully, nodding a distracted thanks to Haruka. Netto whiskered his own off the tray with an aggravated noise, swallowed an angry gulp, and scalded his tongue.

Under normal circumstances, Netto would have sipped his chocolate slowly, carefully, wrapping the rich beverage around his tongue and delighting in every small mouthful. Enzan would have ignored the mug, period. Even if he was too polite to deny Haruka, he would've let the thing cool off and then offered it to Netto as soon as the other boy was done slurping his own share.

Mother senses tingling like _woah_, Haruka gently prodded and questioned both boys for the reason of their preoccupation. It took her a while, but finally Netto spilled everything… even if in a considerably _random_ order.

When he got to the part about the abduction, Haruka recoiled, issuing a shocked sound, and let herself drop into a chair. Digital or not, Rockman was her _son_, and Axl her _grandchild_. Their loss cut deep into her heart like a well-honed blade, making it hard for her to breathe.

Valiantly, she fought off the tears that sprung unbidden to her eyes; after taking a moment to collect herself, she told the boys it was time for an emergency reunion, and went to phone her husband.

The doorbell rang while she was upstairs, heralding the arrival of Meiru, Dekao and Yaito, with their Navis in tow. On the whole, their mood was sombre, even sorrowful. But while Yaito was sombre-sorrowfully enraged, Glyde was sombre-sorrowfully shocked; Roll was sombre-sorrowfully distraught, and Dekao and Gutsman were sombre-sorrowfully ready to kick ass. Meiru, she was sombre-sorrowfully sick with worry.

She pounced on Netto the moment he came in sight, squeezing him tight around the neck. Then, in a move that sort of surprised everyone, she went and pounced on Enzan, clinging to him in a way that seemed meant to comfort him, and at the same time to keep herself from crumbling. Enzan returned the hug, however briefly, before gently but wordlessly pushing her away.

The five of them clustered together on the couch, each nursing their own mug of cocoa, each lost in their private thoughts as they waited for Yuuichiro to come home. The silence between them was thick, even stifling; and even though Enzan didn't mind it one bit, Dekao grew restless very soon, and punched the TV on, hoping for some respite.

But when _ever_ do things go the way Dekao plans them? 0,001% of the times and, obviously, this instance was included in the remaining 99,999%.

"…my own son has betrayed not only his company, but me, his father, his only remaining relative, selling top-secret information to Sci-Labs," came from the TV. "I've never been more ashamed of the name Ijuin in my whole life."

Enzan bristled, jumping to his feet as though stung. Netto sprayed cocoa out of his nostrils in his shock.

"…and what's worse," Shuuseki was saying. "With my son's help Sci-Lab has managed to steal IPC's most treasured possession, the no-serial number Navi commonly known as 'Blues'. You might remember him, I presume," Shuuseki squinted into the camera, eyebrows drawn together as though in pain. "Blues isn't just the work of a lifetime, to us of IPC. He's also an hero. He's saved both his word and ours in more than one instance. I'd like to think that he is as precious to you as he is to me," he said, cupping his hand over his heart.

Enzan barely resisted the urge to hurl his mug at the TV set. Shuuseki hadn't spared Blues more than two or three glances in the last _decade_ – he'd plain _loathed_ the Navi since he'd been given to Enzan, actually; like he'd been holding a grudge on Blues from the moment the Navi was born. And now he had the guts to say that Blues was precious to him? _Precious?!_

As the interview went on, a trained ear would have noticed how Shuuseki kept referring to Blues as "something" rather than "someone", calling him "a possession", "a thing" and "a weapon"; but I doubt anyone could've noticed those slips in such a flood of crocodile tears.

For a good thirty minutes, Shuuseki kept bemoaning his son's betrayal. Enzan broke my heart, he said. Enzan stabbed me in the back, he said. He publicly disgraced his own son, while at the same time making himself look as both the piteous father and the helpless victim. He also charged Dr. Yuuichiro Hikari with thievery and Navi-abduction, and voiced a formal warning to "the honest people of this town" not to trust "that Hikari buffoon and his lousy squad of malingerers".

By the look on their faces, Enzan and Netto were one step away from either blowing, or spontaneously combust at that point. Yaito prevented the worst by snatching the remote from Dekao's hand and turning the TV off, but even her quick move couldn't completely contain the reaction of her friends.

Furious, Netto turned to the nearest chair, and then proceeded to kick and upturn it in one swift motion. The chair retaliated by hitting him behind the knee as it fell, sending Netto to land on his rump.

For his part, Enzan merely clenched his fists, expelling a long breath through his clenched teeth. Then, without a word, he stormed out.

Of the house, I mean. Not just the room.

Netto tried to crawl, then hop one-legged (he was still sore after the kick-n'-fall episode above), then bound and leap after him, but by the time he'd reached the front door, Enzan had vanished into the night.

Yuuichiro and Haruka positively _fretted_ all night long, as did Meiru. Netto looked torn and edgy and worried and angsty for a few hours, then his face cleared all of a sudden. Call it faith in his friend, call it sleepiness, call it a hunch or blame it on telepathy (being linked to Navis who have commuted is _bound_ to cause some after-effects, I guess), but a little past midnight he told everyone that Enzan was all right and went to sleep, just like that.

**L**o and behold, Netto was actually _right_. Enzan had gone back the Ijuin manor (by feet, as to calm down some), and in the safety of those imposing four walls, he made a few phone calls and pulled a few strings.

Once he was done with the phone, he went online. Logging into his bank account, he transferred his personal money before his father could have it blocked, and fished out those credit cards of his that Shuuseki had no authority over (read: knew nothing about).

After disconnecting, he stuffed his laptop and one spare battery inside a bag; then filled a second bag with some clothes, shoes, and what little he felt he could not part with, such as old notebooks and a memento of his mother.

Last but not least, he carefully searched his room for anything related to Net-battling, to Blues and to Axl – battle chips, data disks, charts, backups, old logs, custom programs and the like – stacked everything in the bag with his laptop, and destroyed all the material he couldn't bring with him.

Thus ready, he took a quick, scalding shower and allowed himself a good half night's sleep (he rarely ever slept more than five hours a night), before proceeding with part two of his plan.

**H**e went to the Net-Saviours HQ first thing in the morning, where he met with some of the people he'd called the previous day. Among them were the Net-Police's chief, Inspector Oda; the Major, and two famous journalists. He made a quick stop in a couple of other places after their meeting; phoned a few more people and then, once he was sure the coast was clear, he joined Maaya at IPC to gauge the outcome of his actions.

Because, you see, Shuuseki might have had the money and the nerve to pull that horrible stunt on his son. But Enzan, he had the _class_ to counter it.

With the collaboration of the police and the journalists mentioned above, Enzan made an appearance in the morning news of several TV stations. He started the interview saying that working alongside another company doesn't equal to stealing information, in his book. As IPC's President he had all rights to form a partnership with whomever he saw fit. And Sci-Lab was an ideal partner, that had proved its worth not only to him but to the whole Nation, helping and supporting the Net-Police during many a crisis.

He admitted that Shuuseki was right in one regard, and that Blues _had_ vanished. But so had Sci-Lab's most advanced Navi: Rockman, who was as much the hero that Blues was. Chances were that a yet unknown criminal organization held them both hostages, but the Net-Police were hot on the case already, as he had Inspector Oda confirm.

Unlike his father, Enzan made no accusations, no excuses, no apology. There was no regret in his voice, and no fear, nor weakness. Only a steely determination coloured his words, and a sort of ice-cold anger, something righteous and impressive to look at.

He announced publicly that, being a Net-Saviour himself, he would take a period off his duties as IPC's President to better concentrate on the investigation. He also assured everyone that both Rockman and Blues would be found in no time.

Asking for no help nor pity, Enzan turned his back to the cameras, and left with as much pride as he could manage (which is to say, an almost humbling amount).

He was at IPC now, as mentioned above. And that's where he was intercepted by Netto & co. Enzan saw them bolt across the road from his office window, but even so he had barely enough time to get up from his chair – smirking in a way that implied he'd been expecting Netto to catch up earlier than that — and then Netto was smothering him, in the most literal sense of the word.

He'd flung himself at Enzan, knocked him flat on his back and was now laying on him, alternating between squeezing him around the chest and smacking him across the head.

When it became evident that Netto wouldn't budge, Enzan somehow managed to climb to his feet with the other boy still clinging to him like a leech. He tried to shake him off, when suddenly he found Meiru wrapped all around his arm, with a moved Dekao patting his shoulder and a very impressed Yaito shaking his hand.

The next few moments were too much of a blur for Enzan to ever recall clearly; but next thing he knew, he had been whiskered off to the Hikari residence. There, he was welcomed by a very proud and moved Haruka (who almost chocked him, she hugged him so fiercely), and by a shocked but optimistic Yuuichiro (who almost flattened him to the floor by ways of patting him on the back).

When questioned, Enzan admitted that he was about to rent a hotel room; because under _no_ circumstance he would live under the same roof with the man who might be holding his Navi and his nephew hostage. But even as he spoke, the odd glint in the Hikaris' eyes forced him to reconsider.

Now, I dare – I seriously triple dog dare anyone present to deny the Hikaris something, when they gang on you with those puppy eyes of theirs.

…nearly impossible, right?

Enzan was merely human, so he capitulated rather quickly under their combined efforts (Haruka might not have the Hikari puppy-dog-look-gene in her DNA, but she was a master in the fine art of the killer pout). Before he knew it, Enzan had agreed to go living with them until the Navis were found (or Netto drove him crazy, whichever came first).

**S**o, for a quick recap: Shuuseki tried to discredit Enzan; Sci-Lab got charged of not one, but two crimes; Enzan countered in a most ingenious, non-violent way, and moved into Netto's home; and Maaya's hair was now curly and of a pretty lavender shade (which we forgot to mention before).

Too bad that now, 42 hours after being stolen, the whereabouts of Rockman, Blues and Axl were _still_ unknown.

…

…well, unknown to those measly mortals, I mean. We know exactly where they are, don't we?

Rockman and Blues: Kyuraweil Keep.

Axl: in the Uranet with Kage and Kuro.

…not that the knowledge does much to reassure us; but at least, we're one step ahead than anyone else in this fic.

**- Scene ****8 cleared.**

**NOW LOADING…**

_

* * *

_

Slow chapter, but a glance to the Real World was mandatory, I guess. Too many things have been happening at once in both words, and dedicating a chapter to Netto & co. was the easiest and quickest way to explain everything.

_Next chappie: Kuro, Kage and Axl go explore… and Blues and Rock manage to do what?! *shock*_


	16. Stage 5: Maturation part I

**Title: **"Infecten – stage 5 – _Maturation 9/?_"

**Author:** Nemesi.

**Fandom:** (MMBN)

**Genre: **Romance. Humour.

**Word Count:** 2794.

**Characters/Pairings: **Blues/Rockman; Netto, Enzan, Axl mainly. Others mentioned.

**Rating:** PG-13.

**Disclaimer:** , its characters, places and themes belong to Capcom, Shogakukan, ShoPro, TV Tokio, etc.. No copyright infringement is intended.

**Warnings:** Shounen-ai. Un-betaed. Navi-preg (and I claim _ownership_ on this idea). OC.

**A/N:** In this stage, the disease fully develops into a chronic condition.

**Summary: **Oooooookay… a few days have passed since we last saw our Navis; who wants to go have a peek at them?

* * * * *

**O**ooooookay… a few days have passed since we last saw our Navis; who wants to go have a peek at them?

One, twelve, thirty… wow! Looks like pretty much everyone is in agreement! Okay, you can lower your hands, now: you'll need both of them to hold onto something as we make the trip.

Please insert a random, overtly-cool effect here, some pathos-music, and watch as the scene fades into a barren wasteland, one of the digital kind, with an odd, ominous sky in shades of red and violet…

Cold pinprick of stars gaped dully from between the shredded clouds; beneath them, there was a wide expanse of caramel-brown sand, that sparkled and crunched underfoot like brown sugar. There were some oddities scattered here and there across the desert – residual data from programs that were deleted or malfunctioned, or plain and simply were never completed. And the array was amazing to look at.

Here was a huge, Aztec head made of stone, festooned with brown and dripping vines. There was a lamppost, all shiny and slim and pretty, rearing up from purple-decked brambles.

A little further ahead a red telephone boot lay tilted, caked with grime and with its glasses all shattered. Further on there was a tower made of metal beams, like a child's toy, but as tall as a skyscraper. In its shade there was a swamp, and in the middle of it, right beside a railroad junction, you could glimpse a Greek temple, made of pink marble and swarming with toy soldiers. If you squinted, you could make out the shape of a ruined warship far on the horizon, there were the dunes evened out and the desert met the sky.

Between an oddity and the other – walking on what looks like a newly-made highway, with its white-painted lines shining eerily in the dull light – there was an unlikely trio of Navis.

The first in line looked tall and regal in his armour; he was armed with a glowing blade and his long grey hair trailed behind him like a cape or a shroud.

Following him came a shorter, though not less imposing, Navi; his body was all sensuous curves and supple, agile limbs, encased in a purple latex suit that shone dully in the low desert light.

The third member of the party was the cuddliest thing in the history of cuddly things – huge green eyes, adorably unruly hair, chubby cheeks that dimpled around an heartthrob grin, and crowned with a pair of kitty ears to boot.

The unlikely trio had set off as soon as their introductions were done with a couple of chapters back, and had been pushing relentlessly on ever since. Saving Rockman and Blues from that lair of doom known as Kyuraweil Keep was imperative, and time was of the essence (Kage and Kuro were evil and all that, but they surely as hell weren't _suicidal_. They wouldn't survive the death of their Originals, and so it was in the best interests to protect them).

As for why Axl was with them still, it was easy to explain.

First of all, the child might be their trump card when it came to convince Rockman and Blues to collaborate in bringing Kyuraweil to destruction. His presence would keep Rockman and Blues from attacking them on sight. And in the lull that followed, Kage and Kuro would have the chance to explain their motives (and if reasoning failed, they could always use Axl as a bargaining chip or hostage. Being Darkloids made it so that they could use the child without remorse).

Besides, journeying all the way to the Upper Levels of the Net to drop the kid home would have cost them valuable time (not to mention: the Net Police would have Kuro and Kage's hide the moment they as much as took a peek out of the Uranet). And they couldn't afford to lose even a second of their already limited time.

…uh? Why are they _still_ walking around, if they're in such a hurry, you ask? Good question! :D But, you see, they couldn't really speed up their search any, and for two very good reasons, too.

1) The space surrounding Kyuraweil vibrated at a frequency that didn't allow teleportation, and so they _had_ to walk all the way to it; and

2) Kyuraweil didn't have _one_ set location. The blasted thing _moved_ around, floating here and there like a nimbus of doom, and so they had to look _everywhere _for it. (That also happens to explain why Rockman and Blues were still _within_ the Keep. One, because they were looking for Axl. Two, because they couldn't teleport out. Three, because if they left it when it was floating through the Graveyard, or some other no-return land like that, they'd be goners).

Swiftly, the trio left the highway – or rather, the highway stopped suddenly, the concrete diving under the sand, pretty white lines and all – and navigated their way to a rather baroque living room. It was only a corner, to be precise – two stumps of wall attached together, with a triangle of tiled floor spread between them.

The elegantly arched windows were tall and imposing, and white with frost. There was a desk before one of such windows, and a divan of crimson damask before a small fireplace. The crackling flames seemed welcoming despite their bluish tinge, and smelled sweet: like fruit or candy. A crystal chandelier hung from a ceiling that wasn't even there, sending shards of light on the golden décor scattered about.

"…are were there yet?" asked Axl, glancing wistfully at the soft-looking divan.

"…no," answered Kuro.

"… now?"

"…no."

"…now?"

"…no."

"…now?"

"…no."

"…now?"

"…no! And stop asking every friggin' five seconds!"

"…"

"…"

"…_now?_"

"That's it! _KAGE_!" Kuro gave a shriek so shrill, but _so_ shrill, it would have shattered glass and made birds drop dead from their branches, had there been any such thing in the Uranet, and rounded on the crimson Navi, scowling, _not pouting_ (not matter what Kage might say, he did. Not. _Pout_.). "Tie him, gag him, cut his tongue off, do something, _anything_, but make! Him! Shut! _Up_!"

Kuro was a Navi of many talents, so it shouldn't surprise you that he could sound whiney, furious, menacing, annoyed, commanding _and_ pleading all at once.

Kage – who was too busy containing his grin to say anything – just crossed his arms and shook his head negative. Kuro gave a frustrated shriek and rounded on Axl, already summoning his buster.

Even in the years to come, Kuro will deny that what followed was a game of tag. He was aiming to delete, thankyouverymuch. If the kid had fun running and leaping and carthweeling away from him, that was his business alone.

* * * * *

Approximately at the same time, deep in the bowels of Kyuraweil Keep, Rockman was in a tight spot.

And I mean it literally, mind you.

Currently, Rockman had his back pressed to the corner of a room, willing himself to be invisible (and failing miserably). Luckily for him, his lack of vanishing skills was compensated by a hulking piece of machinery the likes of which you'd see in a 70s sci-fi movie, which shielded him completely from view. It was a huge computer console, with rotary controls, bright blinking lights, diodes and levers all over the front, and a spill of cables coming out from the back.

Rockman was crouched between the right side of the console and the rust-spotted wall. On the other side, there was a swarm of those slimy creatures that had kidnapped him and his family.

…_told you_ he was in a tight corner.

Thankfully, the creatures had yet to detect him, but Rockman knew it was only a matter of seconds. And once they did… heck, just the memory of their dripping dark tentacles probing his data banks was enough to make Rockman's stomach churn in disgust, and his head reel.

The blue Navi squeezed his eyes shut, barely resisted the temptation to bang his head back against the wall, and summarily decided that he had to be the unluckiest Navi to ever be programmed.

Blues and he had gone their separate ways about one hour before: each would explore half of the floor, or level, they were in, and come back within three hours time to report. It's what they'd been doing with each previous level: split up, investigate, regroup, and immediately go one level down unless there was something of importance to be assessed.

It wasn't the quickest, or more secure of routes, but Rock and Blues couldn't leave a single stone upturned: not if they wanted to find Axl. (Well, not that they _wanted_ to find him, if you get what I mean. They'd give everything to know that their son was miles away from that place, but they couldn't take any chance).

Rockman was just half-way through his inspection, when he'd heard a noise like a whimper of a sob come from a nearby doorway. He'd leaped through it before he could think better about it; and now… now he was trapped in a dead-end, with no foreseeable escape.

The slimy things slush closer, he could hear it. They were garbling something in what sounded like an alien tongue, and making wet, sucking noises like mud or decayed sea-bottom things with each step.

Damned be pride, Rockman whished for nothing more than to be whiskered off to safety by Blues, at the moment. He'd reached the point where being carried away bridal-style yet AGAIN didn't sound detrimental to his ego, but was actually rather tempting.

He'd give anything, do anything, endure anything, as long as he made it out of here alive and could save Axl and see Netto again and…

…and just when a few of those creatures went chattering round the corner, swish-washing like jello candies, two hands emerged from the wall behind Rockman – I promise: they emerged _from_ it — wrapped themselves tight about his waist and over his mouth, and pulled him back. Navi and hands went right _through_ the wall: the metal-looking surface parted and rippled like water, and then went solid just in time for the creatures to hobble past without noticing anything amiss.

On the other side of the wall (err… or what is _within_? …nevermind. _Somewhere_), Rockman struggled against his captor, and when nothing else proved effective, tried to stomp on their foot. His assailer evaded the move, bent over, and harshly pulled Rockman back against their, frankly put, rather familiar-feeling chest.

Rockman blinked, going ramrod still, and all the fight drained completely out of him.

Knowing he'd be recognized, Blues promptly let him go and stepped back.

Rockman turned towards him with wide eyes.

"…you found another glitch in the Keep's programming?" He asked, awed at this new trick of his mate's. Being able to get through walls would be more than useful, in their search. Rockman tried not to address the fact that that was, like, the 100th error in the Keep's code that Blues had managed to discover and use in their favour.

Blues looked down and away, and his hair rippled as he gave a small shrug.

"This is actually a defence system I managed to hack, not a bug in the code."

_"Oh_."

That was only the 58th time it happened, then.

"Blues…"

"Don't ask." Reaching up, the red Navi rubbed his face, a gesture born out of frustration. "I truly have no idea why I understand this place and its coding so well. I have no idea why I can go around each and every single protection, why I know its _passwords_…"

…passwords? That was new even to Rockman, who struggled to digest this new piece of information. Blues noticed the inquisitive glance sent his way, and cringed.

"I came across a control panel in my search," he explained. "And I accessed it by just _inputting the right code_. Like I'd known it all along." He gritted his teeth, anger and frustration evident in his demeanour.

"Have you found anything about Axl…?" Hopeful. So _hopeful_.

Blues cringed again, then scowled, clenching his hands into fists. At some level, he felt like he deserved the twinge of pain that came along with the nervous gesture. Felt like he deserved _more_ of it.

"No," he answered in a curt, clipped tone. "There's no data whatsoever about his capture in this place. No data that I can access, at least."

The word: "yet" was left unsaid, but hung heavily in the air between them, like an unseen ghost.

Rockman hugged himself, rubbed his arms as though trying to get warm, and looked down.

"Blues, I know it frustrates you, but…" he looked his mate square in the eyes, face set with determination. "Whatever it is that allows you to understand this place, it's helping us to find _our son_. Don't question it, Blues. Just go with it."

Blues snorted, a humourless thing.

"Don't look a gift horse in the mouth, as the saying goes?"

"Something like that."

A smile. Brave. Kind. So trusting. How could something so simple, so small, give Blues so much strength, so much comfort? He felt lighter, all of a sudden. Warmer. It got even better when Rockman walked up to him and leaned against him, managing to look like he was cradling Blues, and was being cradled at the same time. So small and so strong, his Rock. So giving.

"There's no trace of this place in my data banks," Blues said. "And yet, I react to it," _and it to me_ "as though I've been here before." _As though it knows me, it _likes_ me._

Rockman tilted his head to a side, made a thoughtful little noise in the back of his throat.

"Maybe Enzan brought you here? On a mission? And for some reason the data was lost, or corrupted?"

Blues hesitated for a moment, held Rockman tighter, and shook his head.

"No. I keep a daily log since my activation. I can even access the data of my time as Dr Regal's henchman, as confused as it is. "

"So there's no chance of you ever being here?"

"Zero percent."

Rockman 'Um'-ed again, looking pensive for a moment.

"That makes no sense. Enzan never brought you here, but you _know_ this place."

And it wasn't the kind of knowledge one could acquire through a Google search, either. It was the I-know-your-programmer-and-his-mother kind.

"…residual data? From where you were Darkloid? Could it be?"

Data that was too raw and corrupted to be consciously accessed, like a foreign cell streaming through in his system, giving off odd signals.

Blues shook his head, and Rockman let himself be held tighter, let himself go soft and pliant, because that was Blues needed: to be strong for Rockman.

"That's not it, either. The only explanation…" Blues hesitated, feeling thorn. The only _logical_ explanation was too horrible to contemplate; it could tear them apart, it could turn Blues into a completely different person, someone that Rock might not – _would_ not – love, ever again.

Blues banished the notion forcibly from his mind. Out loud he said: "…is that we're being lucky," revealing nothing of his thoughts.

Rockman hummed thoughtfully, squeezed Blues – because that was the most sensible thing to do: offer physical comfort, and not idle words – and burrowed closer.

"I wish…" _that we were back home._

"We'll be. Soon."

"I really…" _miss our family._

"Me too."

"Do you think…" _that Axl is safe?_

"Definitely."

"Thanks."

"I only speak the truth."

"Yeah, uhm… Blues? How come you can guess what I want to say before I do?"

Oh my. Looks like they _had_ managed to link through that fabled permanent connection Enzan had mentioned once.

"…we have? But it can't be!"

"Rock, you just read my mind" – not to mention the _author's_ – "I think that's all the answer you need."

Rockman flushed.

"…we're telepathic?"

"Now don't stretch it."_ When we're touching, maybe. And 100% attuned. Besides…_

"Yes, I could always feel you, too. Even before we got together, I remember…" _when_

"…Gospel got me." _You felt it._

"Yes, I did. It was…" _horrible._

"I was thinking of you," _as I was being deleted._

"I heard you."

"Call out?"

"…whisper. And then there was a void inside me where…" _you were supposed to be._

The worry etched into Rockman's face was endearing. Blues smiled at him, a quick quirk of his lips, like something imagined. He squeezed Rockman once then pushed him away, a slow and deliberate motion, but not ungentle.

"Let's get going."

In the past few days, that handful of words had become their personal mantra. But who can blame them? They had a slime-brimming prison to explore, after all.

And a son to locate.

**- Scene ****9 cleared.**

**NOW LOADING…**

* * *

_And I'd like to stress the fact that their link is so totally canon. In the anime, Rock REALLY did feel it when the Virus Beast Gospel killed Blues, and knew before being told the sad fate of his partner. In the manga, he can perceive it when Blues is in danger. For his part, Blues heard Rock's thoughts at least on two occasions in the manga. :3_

_I'm going abroad next week, and I'll be back at the end of the month. If everything goes as planned, next chapter we'll have:_

_Enzan, Netto and… Meiru, develop a sort of routine;_

_Axl gets to know his two new Ojichan better;_

_And Blues discovers first-hand just HOW STUBBORN Rock is (especially when hurt)._


	17. Stage 5: Maturation part J

**Title: **"Infecten – stage 5 – _Maturation 10/?_"

**Author:** Nemesi.

**Fandom:** (MMBN)

**Genre: **Romance. Humour.

**Word Count: **3991.

**Characters/Pairings: **Blues/Rockman; Netto, Enzan, Axl mainly. Others mentioned.

**Rating:** PG-13.

**Disclaimer:** , its characters, places and themes belong to Capcom, Shogakukan, ShoPro, TV Tokio, etc.. No copyright infringement is intended.

**Warnings:** Shounen-ai. Un-betaed. Navi-preg (and I claim _ownership_ on this idea). OC.

**A/N:** In this stage, the disease fully develops into a chronic condition.

**Summary: **Realworld, Cyberworld, Uranet. A lot of things are happening, anywhere. And not all of them are bad…

* * * * *

For Enzan, life with the Hikaris was proving to be more fun that he'd allowed himself to think (but twice as chaotic as his worst assumptions). Netto was a force to reckon with: always hyper, always positive, always talking, tugging, yelling and pouting, always clinging to him and stealing all their covers at night (the brat!). But Ijuin Enzan was trained in the fine art of keeping investors at bay, so he could deal with Netto just fine.

Harder to deal with were Netto's _parents_.

Yuuichiro and Haruka were wonderful people, and Enzan had the deepest respect for them both. But living with someone who cared about his well being was something Enzan wasn't accustomed to. His bond with Shuuseki had never been particularly deep, and their tenuous relationship had gone to waste after Enzan's mother had died.

As for his mother, Enzan remember her but vaguely – he was four when "mama" left him, and what little he remembered was as hazy and vague as a dream: lingering impressions like the slating light shining white on her curls, the sweet smell coming from the tender hollow of her throat; the dry softness of her lips against his forehead, the quiet chinking of her earrings, the glass-like tinkle of her laugh, that often ended in coughing.

It shamed him a little, but the truth was that Enzan had problems remembering his mama's face and given name. However, he wasn't to blame for that: Shuuseki had all but banned that name from their home and destroyed every picture of her, acting as though burying his wife's memory along with her body might do them some sort of good.

Haruka and Yuuichiro's warm, supporting presence was hard to deal with at times (Enzan still struggled with the concept that someone could wake up in the wee hours of the night to cook him up his favourite European-style breakfast, just for the sake of seeing him _happy_), but their efforts to make him feel welcome weren't unappreciated.

In the end, the person Enzan had most problems dealing with was the least imaginable.

The Hikari household was made up of Netto, Haruka and Yuuichiro; but Meiru spent so much time in their home, she had become family by virtue of habit.

And Meiru was… _something else_.

Don't get me wrong: she was a wonderful girl. Pretty like a flower, even if she could sting like a bee when need be. She was sweet, and she was lovely to look upon; she was kind and funny and generous.

But… that's exactly the problem.

Wherever you looked at it, Enzan just wasn't _born_ with the ability to deal with the sweet and lovely and kind and funny. He could eat loan sharks for breakfast, but sweet and lovely and kind and funny did him in. Especially when they came armed with:

a) deep and dark puppy-dog eyes,

b) an understanding smile,

c) a sisterly relationship with his current roommate that might be the last embers of a crush (or a crush that might be the natural evolution of sisterly affection, he just wasn't sure); and

d) a tendency to hug or hold Enzan whenever he looked even the least bit sad or worried (which is to say, almost 24 hours a day).

Her attachment to Netto and her addiction to the usage of Enzan as a teddy bear were annoying traits on their own. But Meiru was also a closet yaoi enthusiast (of all things a girl could be!), which elevated her from the position of "pretty, amusing nuisance" to "potentially hazardous threat to Enzan's sanity".

She claimed to have a sort of… radar… or spider sense… or _something_… (Enzan didn't want to know the details) that caused her to see things that weren't there, and to smirk knowingly whenever Netto clung to him and Enzan took more than 0.00001 seconds to detach himself. It was that same spider-radar-sense-yaoi-_something_, that drove her to nickname Enzan her "rival-dear".

Enzan wasn't stupid. He knew what Meiru saw – or _thought _she saw – between Netto and himself. However, Netto totally _failed_ to see the subtle implications heaped in the nine letters of that nickname. Whenever Meiru used it, he'd latch possessively onto Enzan's arm, DEMANDING she found her own rival 'cuz Enzan belonged to _HIM_. (Underlined, capitalized, and stressed.). It only made things worse, obviously.

For his own sanity, Enzan mostly ignored the downwards spiral of madness that were Meiru and Netto combined, so we're not allowed to discuss their antics in public sites, sorry.

…buuuuuuuuut, what we _are_ allowed to do, is take a peek on those antics as they're performed.

About a week had come and gone since the abduction, and Haruka had all but forced Enzan to take a pause in his investigation, least he ran himself ragged. Currently, our boy-wonder was sitting on the Hikaris couch, counting the seconds until he was allowed to go back to his search.

He sat with one leg across the other, chin propped on his fist. His lips were in a thin line, and his eyes held an attentive, calculating look that hinted to his preoccupation.

He was still in full-frown mode when Netto, The King of Subtlety, went and flicked him on the forehead.

"You'll get wrinkles if you think too hard," he explained, with the air of someone who knew everything there was to know about the subject.

Enzan rolled his eyes.

"As if you knew anything about _thinking_," he swatted Netto's hand away, smirking at the pout his jibe evoked. "Any news?"

"Nope. But Laika said they're still detecting an awful lot of activity in the Uranet," Netto shrugged. "It was the zero area this time."

"The lowest level of the Net? What would that mean?"

"Beats me."

"Maybe whoever got Rockman, Blues and Axl is hiding there?" Meiru offered, going to sit beside Enzan on the couch.

Netto shook his head.

"Laika checked, and Raoul did too. And they could find nothing wrong, other than lots of rumours about some Dark Navi or the other being on the move."

"…and high levels of electricity," Enzan finished. "Which leads us to believe that something is brewing in there. What, we're not sure."

Meiru pressed her fingertips to her lips, a faraway look in her eyes.

"I hope they are all right." She turned towards Enzan in time to see a flash of haunted concern waft by his eyes, and reached out to tangle their fingers together.

"They _have_ to be!" Netto cried, jumping on the couch between his two friends. "Let's have some faith in them!"

He was way too distracted to notice (or didn't notice on purpose, or better yet had been oblivious when he should have realized) that his sudden leap would have crushed Meiru's arm, hadn't she wrenched herself away from Enzan.

She glared at Netto for a moment, then noticed something that made her smile, then smirk, then giggle pleasantly to herself. Netto was leaning more on Enzan than on the back of the couch as he chatted, and pushing closer by the second, sort of keeping Enzan from Meiru and vice-versa.

For his part, Enzan was leaning so far over the armrest to prevent body contact with Netto that his back was arched taut like a bow. He kept darting quick glances at Meiru, not knowing if he was dealing with her yaoi-loving persona or the crushing-on-Netto one, and feeling wary of both.

Meiru (un)helped things by casually leaning towards Netto, who burrowed deeper into Enzan, who leaned further out of the couch.

When the inevitable happened, and the two boys fell in a pile of tangled limbs on the floor, Meiru's laugh rang high and clear, a very welcome sound in those hard times.

* * * * *

Speaking of sounds, the first thing to come to us as we switch to the Uranet, is a sort of holler:

"KURO-OJICHAAAAAAAN!"

And before you ask: no, it wasn't a happy holler.

It was a ZOMG-I'M-BEING-CHASED-BY-AN-EVIL-THING-OF-DOOM-_PLEEZ_-SAVE-ME kind of holler.

The Evil Thing of Doom in question was a giant butterfly-shaped virus, with pale yellow wings that rained shimmering gold pixels with each majestic beat. Its eyes were dark and glossy, like black marbles, and glowed faintly in the low, distorted light of that forbidden land. Its antennae were twitching, and its many legs were covered in a soft-looking fuzz, pink like peach, and striped with red.

Even as he ran from it (read: bolted at light speed across the terrain), Axl looked over his shoulder at the thing and waved his arm like crazy, screaming a pitch when the Sonic boom refused to work – as per usual.

"KURO-OJICHAAAAAAAAAAAAN!"

Hearing the call, Kuro put his face in his palm, and sighed. Obviously, the language awkwardness that affected the child's black-visored, silver-haired father must have been passed onto Axl as well.

For some reason, whenever Kuro said "I'm not your friggin' uncle, dammit! Let go of me!" the pest heard something along the lines of, "why yes, call me any way you like, dear heart; and while you're at it, please keep clinging onto me hard enough to cut off the circulation in my limbs". And now he was stuck with the nickname.

"KURO-OJICHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAN!" Axl hollered, yet again.

Kage walked up to Kuro on the crest of a small hill. He glanced briefly at the game of tag Axl was playing with the butterfly down below, then advised: "you might want to assist the little one before he is eaten," which earned him an elbow in the stomach (Kage dodged it, of course; but it's the thought that counts).

"The Ornithoptera Virus _doesn't_ eat Navis," Kuro growled at him.

"Still, it looks like the perfect moment for a heroic deed."

"Heroic deed my--"

"Language," Kage chided, looking thoroughly amused.

Not that anyone would be able to _tell_ he was amused. With half his face covered by helmet and visor, his I'm-amused-beyond-words expression wasn't any different than his usual holier-than-thou expression. Or any other expression he'd ever worn, actually.

Kuro crossed his arms and glared at Kage with a passion.

"I'm not _helping_ the blubbering idiot's son! Hell, that oversized bug doesn't even know he's there, what is he so scared of?"

True enough. The Ornithoptera Virus was so huge and Axl so small, it probably hadn't even _noticed_ him. The child just happened to find himself on the virus's path towards food, which was a field of ripe, corrupted data of a pale lavender colour just a little down the road. Hadn't Axl be so swift on his feet, the butterfly would've passed him without a second a glance, already.

"KURO-OJICHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAN!"

A vein began throbbing on Kuro's forehead, very fast. Kage weighed the benefits of keeping his mouth shut, decided it was always fun to see Kuro pitch a fit, and proceeded to point and comment on aforementioned thumping vein.

He had to sidestep ere a charged plasma shot made intimate contact with his head.

"Shut up," Kuro hissed, straightening back to his full (if not so imposing) height, and crossing his arms in annoyance.

"I do believe you should help the child," Kage coaxed, gesturing towards Axl with a smirk.

"Thanks, but no thanks."

"So stubborn. Why don't you try doing as I say, for once?"

"Why would I?"

"You might enjoy it."

"Like a kick in the stomach."

Kage shrugged.

"That's what _you_ say."

Kuro scoffed.

"Why don't _you_ help him, instead?"

"It's not _me_ he's calling for."

"Easily solved." Kuro tossed his head to a side, not even turning fully, and hollered: "Kid-thing! The leech here says he'll come save your sorry hide if you call for _him_!"

It took him longer to say it, than it took Axl to _do_ it, really.

"KAGE-OJICHAAAAAAAAA_AAAAA__AAAAAAA__AAA__AA__NN!"_

Faster than light, Kage disappeared from his current spot in front of Kuro, appeared above the butterfly virus, and split it neatly in two with his blade. The butterfly beat its wings once or twice before the two halves of its body decided it'd be nice to go separate ways, and oh! falling towards the ground looked like fun, too.

Kage landed on one knee beside Axl, hauled the kid in his arms, and literally blurred out of sight, he was so fast. Kuro barely had the time to blink, that Axl was thrust in his arms, arms were thrust under his _own_ knees and behind his shoulders, and he was carried away a moment before the Ornithoptera Virus made a crash-landing on the hill where he'd been standing.

Kage landed on a nearby outcrop, Kuro in his arms and Axl in Kuro's own. Of his charges, one looked annoyed and the other utterly delighted. I don't need to tell who was feeling what, right? I mean, a delighted Kuro is a sight I've yet to come across.

"Kage-Ojichan! That was so cool! You're _almost_ as fast as Daddy!" _Almost_. 'cause really, there might be awesome people in the Net and all, but no one could even _hope_ to come close to his parents.

"You sonnuva--- put me down! _DOWN_!"

That was Kuro, if you hadn't gathered that already just by the… _tone_. Yeah. _Tone_.

Freeing one arm from around Axl, he went to swat Kage behind the head. As usual, his attempts to hurt Kage proved ineffective, were easily evaded, and totally ignored to boot.

"We'll proceed faster, if I carry you."

"KAGE!"

"Yes?"

"Put me down this _instant_!" pointing at the ground for clarity, as though Kage might somehow mistake up with down, and toss him instead than lower him.

Kage cocked an eyebrow – and even though Kuro had no way of knowing that, he bristled like an angry cat.

"You sure about that?" Kage asked, silkily, tossing his head down and to the right.

Kuro followed his line of vision, became aware of the sheer drop opening below them, and twitched. He wasn't afraid of heights, not with his cat-like ability to always fall on his feet. But he'd rather stay away from deep dark chasms and the like all the same. He knew that one can fall from high places, and how easily it was to be dislodged from within someone's arms when you're freefalling, especially when you've jumped from, say, a floating castle like Kyuraweil and such.

…not that he would know from experience or anything.

"I guess '_later'_ is a more feasible option than '_now'_, isn't it?" Kage insisted. "Unless you're suicidal. Are you suicidal, Kuro?"

Kuro scowled (not! Pouted!), barely refrained from hitting Kage with Axl (yes, you read that right), and curled into a defensive position.

And he does see you laugh, so stop it now.

"I'm gonna delete you one of these days," he muttered.

"Hardly any news," Kage shrugged. Hoisted his charges higher and closer to his chest. "Hold on tight. Both of you."

In a swirl of grey hair, Kage swivelled around and leaped away from the crashing site. In his arms, Kuro kept nursing his bruised ego, muttering barely-audible bodily threats. In Kuro's arms, Axl was giggling so much, he could barely breathe. My, but these two new Ojichan were so much fun! He, like, _totally_ loved them already.

He couldn't wait to tell Daddy and Papa _all_ about them…

* * * * *

Currently, Daddy and Papa were kneeling together in one of Kyuraweil's cells, poring over a holographic image.

The hologram depicted a schematic map of Kyuraweil, a prospect they'd been able to elaborate thanks to both their exploration and Blues's Spectacular (if Worrying) Abilities to hack into the Keep's system.

At closer inspection, their prison seemed to be the digital equivalent of a giant beehive. Its outward shape was that of a chestnut, more or less: narrow on top and with a large, round base. Inside, it was composed of multiple layers of cells, parallel to each other, and relatively uniform in shape and size. Blues and Rockman had been held in the upper part of the Keep; beneath that level of cells there were rows of databanks, labs, and storage rooms, in that order.

The Control Room had been built at the lower edge of the Keep, nestled deep in a maze of heavily-guarded corridors, and it was that room that currently held their interest.

Blues indicated it on the map with a flick of his hand.

"The protection there is heavier, and not as old as the rest of the Keep. I'm…" _unfamiliar with it,_ he wanted to say, but held his tongue in check. "…not sure how to hack it."

Rockman nodded his head, and made a thoughtful noise in the back of his throat.

"So, if Axl is here…"

"…he can be only in that one room, yes." Blues traced his finger across the map, encircling the whole of the Keep. "There's no trace of his signature anywhere in the rest of the structure."

Rockman exhaled a sigh, parting his lips in a smile, and regarded Blues with eyes that shone with relief.

"That's good."

Blues nodded in agreement. If Axl had been in one of the upper cells he might have been mistreated by fake copies of his parents; if he had been in the labs, he might have been used as a guinea pig, prodded, questioned and studied mercilessly. If he was in the main room, then he was probably as safe and comfortable as one could get in that place.

"Where do we go from here?" Rockman tapped his lips thoughtfully, eyebrows drawing together in thought.

Blues hesitated a moment, as though wanting to collect his thoughts. When he spoke, his voice was low, earnest, interlaced with that sort of rough sweetness reserved only for Rock, but unyielding nonetheless.

"Rock, listen. I've thought about it, and it seems our best course of action would be to…" he hesitated but a moment, then his jaw set. "…split up."

Blues might as well have slapped him, for the look that appeared on Rockman's face. He gaped at his mate, and his chest felt so tight he suddenly found it hard to breathe.

"…w-what?" he croaked.

Reaching out, Blues touched Rockman's cheek, briefly, then moved his fingers to cup the back of Rockman's neck.

"One of us should go back to the Upper Net to report our findings. The other should stay behind, and try to sabotage this place from within." His lips quirked, a grimace born of dark humour. "And I don't need to tell you who's the best Navi for _that_ job."

Rockman's eyebrows furrowed together, but Blues placed his palm over his mouth to prevent him from speaking.

"It's for the best, Rock. Axl needs his parents. We must…"

Rockman wrenched himself free, and glared at Blues with eyes made fierce with both hurt and anger.

"I'm not leaving you here on your own, Blues. Don't count on it."

"You'd rather leave Axl alone?"

Rockman shook his head.

"As far as we know, Axl could be home right now, with Netto-kun and Enzan-kun and Roll-chan to take care of him."

"That's exactly why you should go back."

"No, that's exactly why I should stay _here_. Axl could be anywhere, you know that. He could be deeper inside the Keep, somewhere we cannot access yet. Or he could be back home. The thing is: _we have no way of knowing_."

Rockman cupped Blues's cheek with one hand, trying to assuage the fierceness of his voice.

"If he's home, he doesn't need saving, doesn't need me rushing to his side only to be told that I left his Daddy behind. But if he's here… then I _have_ to stay. We're so close to this place's core. We just need to push a little further on. Once we reach it, we sabotage it, and go back home. That's how we've always handled things – diving straight for them. Why should we do any different this time?"

"Rock, we're parents now. I understand the importance of sabotaging this place, but we can't act rashly only just because we feel like it. We have a child to think of."

"Yes," Rockman said promptly, eyes earnest. "You're right. I'm a parent now. My priorities _have_ to be a little different than before."

There was a pregnant silence from Blues, though not by choice: he probably would've said something, had Rock paused to take a breath.

"As a parent, my first duty is to make sure that my son is always safe."

Blues tried to agree, but Rock didn't give him the chance.

"And that he has what he needs. And what would he need the most if not his parents back home? So it comes without saying that my duty now is to come with you, so that I can check that Axl is not in any danger, and also make sure he gets back what he needs most – the both of us," Rock concluded, smiling in triumph.

Blues went still for a moment, blinking under that visor of his, then expelled an amused, if resigned, sound.

"There's no winning against you, is there?"

"_Nossir._"

Blues sobered instantly.

"Rock… I see the logic in your words. But if we fail… Axl will have lost us _both_. If you go back, at least one of us will have…"

Rockman shook his head, effectively silencing his mate.

"You think that sending me back will improve my chances of survival. But you _know_ it will lessen yours. And I'm not going to take the risk. I've lost you too many times already. I'm not letting it happen again." He gripped Blues's hand, tightly. "Together we're stronger, Blues. We're _unbeatable_. If Axl is in the Keep's core, together we will find him. If he isn't, we will destroy it, and go back home. _Together_."

He sat back on his haunches, face earnest.

"So, where do we go from here?"

"Rock…"

"Where?" with a no-nonsense tone he'd picked up from Blues himself, of all things.

Blues looked away from him and to the map.

"I wouldn't mind taking a peek inside the labs," he said after a thoughtful pause.

Rockman peered at him through his lashes, studying Blues and trying not to be obvious about it.

Though his mate was hiding it, being in that place unsettled him, and deeply. A detour in the labs might be of more importance to Blues that he might be willing to admit.

Rockman shifted his eyes back to the holo-map, and pursed his lips. Even the shortest route to the Control Room would bring them close to at least three of the biggest labs. A detour would cost them a few minutes at best, and a few hours at worst. Surely he _could_ allow it? If only for Blues's sake?

His eyes went back to Blues, the drawn face, the grim set of his jaw, the pale mouth, beautifully shaped, and so stern. There was something about that place… something mysterious that connected it to Blues. And this connection upset his mate, if not flat-out frightened him. Rockman wanted to ease that fear, chase it away. He wanted to uncover what that connection was and — in case it proved dangerous to either Blues or Axl — banish it without mercy.

His mind made, Rockman reached out, put his hand on Blues's own, and gave it a squeeze.

"I want to see the labs, too," he assured.

And it wasn't a lie.

* * *

**- Scene 10 cleared.**

**NOW LOADING…**


	18. Stage 5: Maturation part K

**Title: **"Infecten – stage 5 – _Maturation 11/?_"

**Author:** Nemesi.

**Fandom:** (MMBN)

**Genre: **Romance. Humour. Action/Adventure.

**Word Count:**2960.

**Characters/Pairings: **Blues/Rockman; Netto, Enzan, Axl mainly. Others mentioned.

**Rating:** PG-13.

**Disclaimer:** , its characters, places and themes belong to Capcom, Shogakukan, ShoPro, TV Tokio, etc.. No copyright infringement is intended.

**Warnings:** Shounen-ai. Un-betaed. Navi-preg (and I claim _ownership_ on this idea). OC.

**A/N:** In this stage, the disease fully develops into a chronic condition.

**Summary: **Rockman and Blues descend further into their prison, and stumble upon something horrible…

* * * * *

**A**s Rockman and Blues descended further into their prison, the crowds of slimy creatures – which they'd dubbed "Slimers" – grew bigger and bigger. There was also more of that horrible slime littering the passageways, shushing and whispering as though wind-stirred. It was as if the walls themselves produced it, or rather sweated it out like a foul poison: there were black marks like tear-stains everywhere they looked, leading to disgusting heaps of oily blackness on the floor.

Yet, outnumbered as they were, the two Navis found it surprisingly easy to move around. Years of battle experience had taught them how to be swift and stealthy on their feet; and Blues's newfound abilities could take them out of even the worst pinch.

But it was more than that.

So much more.

In all truth, it seemed to Rockman that the deeper they descended, the duller, slower and weaker the Slimers became. They moved about sluggishly, like bees that were drunk on nectar, blinded and deafened by something neither Navi could know or perceive. Blues had pointed out that a huge quantity of data was being encoded, processed and sorted in the core of the prison. And Rockman supposed that its incredible size was slowing all the other functions of the building, from the anti-viral system to the integrity scans, and that even the Slimers weren't immure to its effect.

It was a measly theory, more of a foolish hope that anything. But it was better than believing they were being purposefully lead on, or that some form of divine intervention was heavily dousing them with luck, removing each obstacle from their path.

They had been wandering for hours by now. Spurred on by their relentless worry for Axl, they had climbed down pits, crawled under broken passageway, picked their way down aisles and stairways, unlocked barriers, passing _through_ the occasional wall every now and then.

The longer they wandered, the better Blues seemed to know the Keep, though he still couldn't recall a time he'd ever been inside it. But as Blues's confidence grew, so did Rockman's dread, tightening about his heart with building strength. He might have found Blues's knowledge of the Keep quite useful, but that didn't mean he liked it one bit.

Doubt was gnawing away at his heart, a ravenous beast that tore into him with fangs and claws. What if they were really being lead on? What if they weren't, and Blues had somehow _gained _a connection with that place? What if it was an after-effect of the Slimers' touch? What if something had been done to them while they were unconscious? What if it couldn't be erased?

_…what if __destroying that place as they meant to do would also destroy Blues?_

Rockman faltered, stopped instinctively and gazed at Blues's back with narrowed, haunted eyes.

Blues took a few steps forward then stopped, glancing back at Rockman from over his shoulder. Visor or not, darkness or not, the concern on his face was clear, and before he knew it, Rockman had leaped forward and latched onto Blues's waist, squeezing tight.

Blues wrapped both arms around his mate, knowing at an instinctive level that Rockman needed nothing more than being held now, held unquestioningly and without reproach.

There were a few moments of silence, then Rockman pulled himself gently away and smiled up at Blues. _I'll protect you_, he wanted to say, but voicing the sentiment seemed foolish on so many levels, and he pressed his lips to contain the urge.

Wordlessly, Blues cupped Rockman's cheek, smiling when the smaller Navi pushed his face into his hand with a cat-like eagerness.

"All good?" he asked in a whisper.

Rockman nodded.

"Uh-huh. I was just…"

"…worried. I know. There's nothing wrong with that." Blues paused for a few more moments than Rockman would've liked, then bent to press a kiss to his temple. Had they been anywhere else, Rockman might've chided Blues for his exceeding gentlemanliness, and playfully showed him what a _real_ kiss _really_ was. Instead he gave him another, affection squeeze (which also would've developed into something more, were the situation any different) then pulled all the way out of his arms.

"How far is it?"

Blues cocked his head.

"The WHN-055 lab is just behind that corner. Are we…"

"Sure we're sure. I really want to see what they're doing in here." Rockman marched on and past Blues, who shook his head in fond exasperation before following.

Right after a final bend, the corridor ended into a wall, with a modest door nestled in the lower middle.

As they stole inside, they hesitated, startled to see that the fabled lab looked anything _but_ what they'd been expecting. There were no metal panels, or consoles. There weren't oddly-shaped glasses in which bright coloured liquids boiled and bubbled. There wasn't a medical tube or pallet anywhere.

There was, to be honest, absolutely _nothing_ in there.

Or to be more precise: there was so much slime in that room, it made it impossible to distinguish what was underneath. The roof, the walls, the floor… everything was thickly layered with slime. There wasn't one single spot that was clean of the black substance. It looked liked they'd stepped into a vase of chocolate that had been upturned, but not emptied, its contents still sticking stubbornly to the sides of the container.

Rockman and Blues waded inside, sinking almost to their calves in the slime. The smell in there was suffocating: a sickly sweet stench like rotten flowers that coated the back of their throats and made them burn. Rockman covered his mouth with his palm (while Blues, always the more practical, summoned his mask), and advanced carefully, looking around in disgust. He stopped suddenly with a small cry of alarm, then trotted a little further in.

In the middle of the room there stood a huge mould of slime, something like a small volcano or the stub of a molten candle. It worked as a support for what remained of an egg, long since opened. Its cracked shell looked pale and soft, almost translucent in the low light, and was streaked with black lines, something like blood vessels or plant roots that still tricked out a small amount of black slime.

All around and behind the broken egg there were heaps and mounds, seeping a dark, oily liquid. It was as if a black, venomous tide had gathered all sorts of debris and waste at the feet of the egg, and left it there to rot in its own putrid fluids.

Rockman wouldn't have spared the disgusting girdle a second glance, if a faint groan hadn't come from its midst, tiny but sharp in the resounding silence.

Rockman was set immediately to motion, and sprung forth even as Blues reached out to restrain him. Core in his throat, Rockman leaped across the smelly puddles, fearing it might be Axl the one who was feebly calling for his help.

He skidded to a halt right across the egg, eyes zoning onto the source of the noise: a Navi was lying with his back to him, half supported by one bent arm, but with his head ducked low between his shoulders. It wasn't Axl – not by any stretch of the imagination could that overtly-long, painfully slim figure belong to his son – but it was someone who needed help nonetheless.

Rockman sank to his knees and gingerly reached out, calling an uncertain: "Hey there…?" and turning the other Navi to look him in the face.

A cry lodged in his chest at what he saw.

Half of the Navi's face had melted away into a dripping mass, like wax or goo; the other half was whole, but haggard-looking, the skin stretched taut across the high cheekbones and suffused with a cadaver's pallor.

For a moment, Rockman knelt there, rendered motionless partly by pity and partly by disgust. He watched on in sick fascination as the Navi's remaining eyelid slid up, tremulously. A bight red eye peered at him as if through a haze, the pupil dilating and narrowing continuously, like a pulsing heart.

The Navi's lips parted, revealing a black tongue and sharp, black-stained canines. The muscles on its throat worked, once, twice, pushing out a wet, low-sounding gurgle.

"Rock… man…", said the monstrosity, and Rockman had barely time to duck out of the way, that a massive claw swept at him, ripping his suit at the junction between arm and torso, narrowly missing his crest.

Rockman tripped backwards, clutching his chest, and watched as the creature struggled upright, revealing that not only its face, but the entire right half of its body was nothing more than a liquefying mess.

The creature took a step forward, jaws widening into a dull roar, as one single bat wing unfolded from behind its back, beating futilely in the enclosed space.

Blues dashed past Rock and pierced his sword in the creature's chest, watching with little surprise as it liquefied into a poll of slime, instead that dissolving into a shower of pixel as Navis and programs are supposed to do upon deletion.

Rockman heaved a deeper breath, and dashed forth to peer at the bubbling poll of slime that had been his attacker.

"Shademan!" he realized, his voice a mere whisper. "Blues, that… that was _Shademan_! I thought we'd deleted him already! How could he…?" he was silenced when Blues sharply raised his sword and went into a protective stance.

A tremor ran through the polls and heaps, and then there rose a howl like a wounded beast's. More and more Shademans began to rise from the oily ground. Most of them were half-melted, dripping slime with each step; but some were simply _incomplete_, missing body parts but behaving as though that hardly _mattered_ – the legless would crawl on their bellies, clawing at the floor with the blood-red nails of their fingers; the armless would stretch their wings forward, the skeletal appendages splayed like a beggar's hand.

And then there were those that missed only one limb, or had holes in their chests like heartless dolls. Those that had no tongue to screech, and did it with their eyes.

Those that had no head.

Rockman shuddered and raised his buster, lips pressed together against a wave of disquiet. Eyes, dozens of eyes, blood-red and hungry fell on him, glittering with malicious intent. As one, the Shademans threw back their heads, mouth hanging open, and their fangs glowed as they caught the light. From their chests rose a rumbling howl, the wailing lament of hungering beasts.

Then they leapt.

Blues was quick to bring out his shield to block the creatures' momentum. He was slammed backwards, unable to keep his footing on the slippery ground, but managed to stay upright nonetheless. He kept his shield raised, head ducked low and hacked at the pack of vampires with his sword.

He slashed left and right, keeping back the majority of them. But even he couldn't notice that one of the legless horrors had sneaked up to him; not until it reared up and sank its fangs in his calf.

Blues nearly collapsed from the sting and the sudden loss of energy, but before he dropped his guard, his attacker ricocheted back under the force of Rockman's shot. It fell against the other vampires like a rag doll, momentarily throwing them all of balance. Taking advantage of this, Blues swept his shield at the crowd, pushing all the Shademans off him at once.

But even as the vampires bounced against the sticky floor, more Shademans rose from underneath and behind them, hissing and growling and calling out "Rock…man… Rock…man…" with gurgling, fading voices like a nightmare.

Quickly assessing the situation, Blues swung at the closest Shademan, opening himself a path to a side door. Then he retracted shield and blade and hoisted Rockman in his arms in one single, fluid motion. Rockman allowed himself to be carried away, covering their retreat with a quick volley of charged shots.

Rockman firmly secured in his arms, Blues leapt out of the lab and into the next, where they caught sight of another broken egg. A dozen of half-molten Navis that looked like Cosmoman lurched after them like hungry zombies, but they speeded past, forcing their way into in a third lab, a frozen coffin by the looks of it, all ice and snow and frozen slime, where a few ice-crusted creatures that looked like Blizzardman glared at them with dull, unmoving eyes like lumps of coal.

Blues leaped out of that room and dashed down a low hallway, the half-melted Darkloids hot on their heels. He glanced over his shoulder at them, then in front again, gritting his teeth when he saw where they were heading.

The corridor ended abruptly, diving into a vaulted room, circular in shape but with no visible exit. The only opening was a round hole in the middle of the floor, a dark pit from which odd vapour rose in greenish swirls.

He didn't hesitate. Didn't slow. He held Rockman tighter to his chest, and asked: "Do you trust me, Rock?"

Rockman needn't answer.

He recalled his buster, wrapped his arms tight around Blues's neck, clenching his eyes shut as they dove into the abyss. He hunched his shoulders up as they fell, breath shortening as he heard the horde of monstrosities follow them in the pit, shrieking and gurgling in the swallowing darkness.

It wasn't possible.

They'd already _deleted_ those Darkloids, sometimes more than once. It was unnatural for them to exist, especially in such numbers, and in those horrible conditions besides…

…but then, since _when_ were things _natural_ in that cursed place?

As the wind rushed in his ears, his stomach coiling into itself for the speed of their fall, the only thing Rockman could do was hold tighter into Blues, and pray that Axl wasn't stranded anywhere in that nightmare.

* * * * *

He wasn't, indeed. Something Rockman would always, _always_ be grateful for beyond belief.

However, unbeknownst to his worried parents, Axl was slowly but surely making his way towards them, getting closer with each bouncy step.

We say "bouncy", because the kid was in no way affected by the odd situation he'd been shoved into. Like most small children, he was incredibly adaptable – keep him distracted or entertained 24/7, and he'll forget everything about being scared or worried. And as you might have guessed already, Kage and Kuro were a _huge_ (if unwitting) source of entertainment for Axl.

In fact, pestering Kuro had become the child's favourite pastime _ever_, topping even his old favourite: playing jokes on Gutsman-Ojichan. Second favourite was clinging to Kage, possibly riding him piggyback. Third favourite – no surprise here – was chattering Kuro and Kage's heads off, telling tales of his life in the Upper Levels.

Which is what he'd been doing for the past… well, three hours or so.

"By the love of…" Kuro began, holding his head. "Do you ever _shut up_?!"

Axl took the matter into serious consideration for a moment or two.

"Uh, uh! When I sleep!"

Cheerfully.

Kuro's left eye twitched.

"Well, shut up. _Now_."

"But I haven't told you about that day when Meiru-Oneesan tried to make cookies! And I say tried because she never really made them. I mean, she _tried_, but…"

Kuro swung his buster towards Axl. Shrieking in delighted fear, the child burrowed into Kage's side, circling his waist with his little arms.

Kage flashed the child a smirk, then poked him on the side to try and get him to uncurl and look up at Kuro, who was about to pitch a royal fit (and _that_ was always a delight to watch. When angry, Kuro paced like a caged tiger and swore like a sailor, all the while flushing like a virgin maiden).

Axl squirmed under Kage's ministration, being extremely ticklish. Giggling, he wormed his way onto Kage's lap and settled there, comfy like a miniature king on his throne.

"But it's a very funny story, Kuro-Ojichan!" he assured. "Can I please tell it?"

"No."

"Pretty please?"

"No."

"With a cherry on top?"

"_Cher…_? No, I _don't_ want to know. And no," he added, pointedly. "You can't tell your friggin' story. If you all but open your mouth again I'm going to cut off your tongue and force you to watch as I feed it to the rats!"

"That's gross," Axl informed cheerfully, face scrunched up.

"Besides," Kage offered drily, "there are no rats in the Uranet."

"Do you want me do _demonstrate_?" Kuro darted the two of them a withering glance, and when it proved ineffective, he bared his teeth and clawed at them with an angry growl.

Axl shrieked in delight again, leaped from Kage's lap and latched onto Kuro, just for the sake of it.

Strangely enough, there was a barely noticeable pause between the attack, and Kuro's attempts to pry Axl off. Nothing more than a millisecond hesitation, but Kage caught in nonetheless. Looking up, he also caught a flash of pleasure across Kuro's eyes that he wasn't meant to see.

He didn't give any outward reaction, instead focusing back on polishing his sword. But he allowed himself a mental smirk.

Fate was a capricious thing, and had dealt him a bad hand, despite his belief that he'd deserve better, if only for his past suffering. But he'd bided his time, undaunted; played his cards carefully, and now his efforts were paying back. Of course, he'd known all along that going to collect Blues and Rockman's son in the Upper Net would be a winning move. But the little pest was proving to be even more useful that he'd allowed himself to believe.

Yes, everything was going according to plan; and he couldn't be more _pleased_…

**- Scene ****11 cleared.**

**NOW LOADING…**


	19. Stage 5: Maturation part L

**Title: **"Infecten – stage 5 – _Maturation 12/?_"

**Author:** Nemesi.

**Fandom:** (MMBN)

**Genre: **Romance. Humour.

**Word Count:**.

**Characters/Pairings: **Blues/Rockman; Netto, Enzan, Axl mainly. Others mentioned.

**Rating:** PG-13.

**Disclaimer:** , its characters, places and themes belong to Capcom, Shogakukan, ShoPro, TV Tokio, etc.. No copyright infringement is intended.

**Warnings:** Shounen-ai. Un-betaed. Navi-preg (and I claim _ownership_ on this idea). OC.

**A/N:** In this stage, the disease fully develops into a chronic condition.

**Summary: **_No_, Blues vowed. He wouldn't let anything hurt Rock, or take him away from his side.

* * * * *

**R**ockman kept his eyes squeezed shut and his face nestled against Blues's throat the whole time, so what little he'd later remember of the fall was a jumble of sensations – a plethora of disembodied screams echoing above and around them, the chilly slap of the wind against his sides, the knot twisting in his stomach as they plummeted down, the whistle of air wheezing past his hears, the head-reeling, weightless feeling of being airborne and going down, in the most total darkness.

He didn't see the bubbling lake of slime that awaited them down below, nor the way its oily surface rhythmically broke and then closed about the Darkloids as they fell, like hungry jaws snapping around a prey.

He was jostled when Blues rearranged his hold around him, freeing one arm to summon his sword and thrust it hard in the wall of the pit. The energized blade ground against the metal with a screeching sound, effectively slowing their fall. The high-speed friction generated a rain of sparks, and for long, incredible moments, a light flared in the pitch darkness, putting into sharp contrasts the groteues rain of bodies all around them.

Then Blues braced his feet against the wall, using the leverage to flip backwards and into a nearby corridor, landing clear of the black lake. He had barely enough time to set Rock on his feet, that a multitude of bodies emerged from the slime, crawling forwards with screeches and moans. Slimers upon Slimers rolled out of the waves, endlessly; and in their ranks there crouched those horrible half-melted Darkloids, their jaws open, their doll-like eyes alight with a sort of hunger.

Rockman gasped, dropping into a fighting stance, but before he could summon his buster he was pushed along the passage and into a run.

Short of breath, low on energy, down mouldy conduits bending at odd angles, crouching under crashed archways, navigating across mobile polls of sticky black substance and piles of rubble, they ran.

Once or twice they slipped, managed to keep their balance, and turned to fire a volley of plasma shots or to slice through a Slimer or Darkloid that had come too close for comfort, but their pace remained fast.

Maybe _too_ fast.

All of a sudden, Rockman sank to his knees, dizzy with exhaustion and barely breathing. Blues was immediately upon him, grabbing his hand, hauling him up and away, slashing his sword around all the while. Rockman gasped out his name, once, then allowed himself to be pulled onwards, focusing only on the warmth of Blues's fingers around his wrist.

Vaguely, thanks to his connection with Kyuraweil, Blues could guess where the pit had taken them: to the lowest level of the Keep. _The Main Control Room was located there_, he recalled grimly. In the holo-map, it had looked like a blood-red splotch in the middle of a maze of corridors. Rock had compared it, most fittingly, to a heavy spider sitting in the heart of its web, waiting for the fly to come by.

And they were running straight for it.

As they went, the ceiling got steadily lower, and bent at an angle, like it happens sometimes after an earthquake. There was rubble scattered here and there, unrecognizable heaps of reeking blackness that speeded past them as they ran. There was slime everywhere, of course. In some of the passages, there was so much, that Rockman and Blues had to wade calves-deep into in the sticky black substance, bent almost in two under the impossibly low ceiling.

They ran and ran, unmindful of it all.

Not once did their hands part.

Not once did the horrid army of Slimers and shadowy, mutilated Darkloids stop giving chase.

They had been going steadily northwards for a good ten minutes, when Blues stopped suddenly, and took an abrupt turn, still pulling Rockman along. Rockman stumbled after him, realizing with what little processing power he could spare that they were going back the direction they'd come. He tried to point out as much, but before he could, they emerged into a small circular room, with no exits in sight.

A warning cry spiked out of Rockman's chest, but Blues paid it no heed, instead dashing to the southern wall. There was a panel, half-hidden under the dry tracks of slime, and Blues pressed his free hand there, muttering something under his breath.

Rockman stole a glance over his shoulder at their pursuers. When he glanced back around, Blues's palm was glowing faintly, the light seeping through his splayed fingers and reflecting off his visor.

Under the pressure of his hand, the wall began to mollify, like a liquid surface that somehow managed to stand vertically and then, before he could even gather enough time to be amazed, Rockman was being pulled through the wall and into the room beyond.

Blues immediately let go of his hand and hastened to turn the wall back into solid matter again. As soon as he was done, the horde of monsters crashed against its bulk, moaning and screeching like winter wind tearing through trees.

Rockman slid down the opposite wall, gasping for breath. Blues glowered at his handiwork for a moment or two, as though gauging how long the wall could resists the attack, then went to sit beside his mate. Rockman looked up at him with wide, wondering eyes.

"Those… those Darkloids… they should've been…"

"…dead?" Blues nodded, briskly. "They _should've_."

Rockman's eyes grew even wider.

"They… they are reviving deceased Darkloids, here?"

Blues grimaced, feeling every pixel in his body pull and scream in exhaustion and gave a small grunt of pain.

"Not just that."

"I… I don't understand," Rockman pulled a frown, biting his bottom lip. Blues looked down and away, rubbing his shoulder.

"Those weren't Darkloids, but mere replicas made out of slime. Couldn't you tell?"

"Replicas…" Rockman's tone was thoughtful, but not confused. He thought back to their outward appearance, how they could be mistaken for half-molten figurine of black wax. "You mean like those copies of ourselves we had to deal with before?"

"Yes," Blues paused, visibly gathering his thoughts. "I suppose the slime has cloning properties of some sort. Once it acquires the data from the original Navi, it can be shaped into a likely copy. However, these replicas are short-lived, if the appearance of those creatures was any indication."

There was a moment of silence, the only sound the wheezing breathing of both Navis. Then Rockman shifted, rubbing his arms for warmth, calling Blues's attention back to him.

"Just… what are they trying to do here, Blues?"

Blues hesitated before answering.

"My guess is that they need many strong Navis for some hidden purpose. They couldn't find nearly enough around here, so they decided to create more, using that slime of theirs."

"...but they failed. That's why they wanted us. To breed their personal army." Rockman shuddered, curling tighter onto himself as a chill went through him. "But why Darkloids?" he shook his head. He'd seen three Darkloids in the labs, but innumerable more had emerged from the lake of slime, more than he could even name.

"Because Darkloids are the most resilient Navi-types. Because being outcasts, their disappearance wouldn't be noticed, unlike ours. Because they're wicked, and more likely to follow with an evil scheme. Because addicted as they are to Dark Chips, they could be easily tempted. There could be any reason."

"Could it have something to do with the powers they wield?"

"It might. Darkloids are the only Navis who can brandish the Dark power with relative ease; and as we know, Dark Power is highly corruptive matter, the digital equivalent of nitro-glycerine or muriatic acid." Blues paused; considered. "Probably," he said at length, "that those Darkloids were already dead was another reason why they were chosen."

Rockman's eyes grew so huge, it looked like they mightn't fit in his face anymore.

_"…excuse me?"_

Surely he'd heard wrong. _Surely_?

"Where are we now, Rock?"

"Somewhere in the Uranet, I'd say. Anyplace else, and we would've been found already."

"And what's the area immediately under the Uranet?"

"The Graveyard?" Comprehension dawned in Rockman's eyes, closely followed by unease. "You mean to tell me they just went for the closest data?"

"The closest, most powerful and unable to refuse their demands, Rock."

"Oh _gods_… they were resurrected, only to be imprisoned and copied?" Rockman cradled his forehead with both hands, dug the heels against his tightly-clenched eyes and took a shuddering breath.

He tried to imagine what it'd feel like to be used like such, and couldn't. Horror and pity clogged his throat, forced him to recoil from the scene before he could clearly envision it.

Who could ever orchestrate something so awful? Who could bring themselves to humiliate, torture and discard another living being in such a manner, be it digital or made of flesh and blood?

Anger flared through his core, spearing the sadness that was choking him. He gave no thought to himself, but couldn't help but remember that his own mate and child had been among the chosen victims of that horrendous scheme.

Rockman tried to recompose himself, bottling down his indignation. He rubbed his face harshly as though to force himself to focus. When he darted a glance at Blues, his eyes were brimming with emotion, but dry and steadfast.

"We have to stop this."

"We will," Blues assured. And it sounded nothing less than a vow, a prediction voiced so surely it couldn't help but come to pass.

Rockman offered him a nod, then leaned towards him. Blues was cleaning a smudge of dirt across Rockman's cheek with his thumb, looking at him like he could never get tired of it.

"How close are we?"

"_Very_."

"We should…"

"…allow ourselves some time to recharge, yes."

Rockman rubbed his cheek against Blues's palm with his usual feline eagerness. When Blues pulled away, Rockman brushed a kiss against his fingertips, a fleeting contact, but full of meaning. Then he shifted back and a little away, putting some distance between their bodies. The air around them was thick; thick with unspoken words, with both tenderness and adrenaline and fear and _need_.

Pulling his knees to his chest and resting his arms against them, Rock put his head against the wall as he struggled to bottle up way too many emotions at once.

_I love him,_ he thought. _I love him and I want him and I _need_ him. I fear for him, and for myself, and I worry for Axl. Those creatures disgusted me, but now I pity them, and I want to destroy this place, but I also don't, because it could hurt Blues, but I want revenge, and I need out of here, I'm confused, I'm tired, I miss Netto, and I'm furious, and helpless, and…_

"I'm glad we're _both_ here," Rockman said at length, voice breezy. He glanced at Blues out of the corner of his eye, and found his mate studying him from the darkness. He had no doubt that Blues knew exactly what he was going through.

"Glad?" Blues echoed, voice low and warm in the chill of the room.

Rockman gave a shrug, then elaborated:

"This is even worse than I thought. But" _if we were to die here…_

"Which we won't." Blues interjected quietly, but with conviction. _I won't let them hurt you. Not now, not _ever_._

Rockman's lips quirked up in a smile.

"And I won't let anything happen to you, either." _I'm just glad we're together in this. Because, unlike most we…_

"…_do_ stand a chance to stop this."

"Precisely." _We are the best of_…

"…partners, you and I."

"Yep. We're _unbeatable_." _Had anyone else been taken…_

"They could've been deleted, or turned against us."

"And we might be fighting a friend right now." _If not…_

"Our son."

Blues pressed his lips together in a line. Rockman just chuckled, unexpected and bright in the teeming darkness.

"This is fun," he said.

Blues arched an eyebrow.

"Is it?"

With a dry disbelief of sorts that only served to make Rockman titter some more.

"We sound like Donald's nephews! Finishing each other's sentences and all that. I like this not-quite telepathy of ours. It changes our relationship completely, without changing it at all. If you know what I mean?"

It was Blues's turn to smile, albeit wryly. Leave it Rockman to find the bright side of _everything_. Or was it, leave it to Rockman to always know what to do or say to ease the tension? Blues's shoulder unwound as he exhaled, stress washing away from him in an instant.

"It changed nothing," he said in response, a hint of dry humour in his voice. "You were _always_ easy to read."

Rockman very maturely showed him his tongue.

"I can read you too just fine, Mr. Big-Mystery."

"Indeed. With this new connection of ours, we just _can't_ keep secrets from each other anymore."

Rockman tilted his head. His eyes were huge, the green in them flaring, capturing all the light in the room like gems or orbs.

"You have secrets you want to keep from me?"

His voice wasn't angry, or hurt, or even upset. There was a soft, gentle quality to it, that made Blues doubt he'd just walked into a carefully-set trap. He sighed.

"Rock… there's nothing I would _willingly_ keep from you."

Rockman seemed to understand that 'willingly' was the keyword, there. He gave a nod, curling on himself until he could wrap his arms around his bent-up legs and lean his cheek against his knee.

"But there's something troubling you, and you don't want to share it with me."

Blues cringed. He had a theory on why he was connected to Kyuraweil, and had tried to keep the horrible notion from filtering into through Rockman's head through their link. Sadly, it seemed that the silence from his end hadn't calmed his mate as much as made him suspicious.

"What is there to say?" Blues said gruffly "You _know _what's troubling me." He gestured eloquently to their surroundings, then pressed his palm to the crest on his breastbone.

Rockman obediently shifted his eyes about, then rested them on Blues's face.

"You know this place," he said.

Blues shook his head.

"_It_ knows me."

"Yes."

"And it shouldn't."

"Probably not. But Blues… if you're worried that being familiar with this cursed place makes you some other Navi… you're just being silly."

Blues hesitated before answering.

"I thought I'd been shielding that train of thoughts from you?"

Rockman arched an eyebrow his way.

"Uh-_huh_. So that's what was troubling you. I had an inkling, but you _were_ keeping your thoughts shielded, yeah."

"…you mean it was a wild guess?"

Rockman grinned.

"Good thing I know you so well, uh? I _told_ you the telepathy-thing changed nothing even as it changed everything." He sobered instantly. Reaching out, he closed one hand around Blues's wrist, tried to ease the tension from him rubbing small, careful circles on the inside with his thumb.

"I won't lie: I'm not entirely comfortable with what's happening to you-" way to tone things down, Rock "-but you're still _you_, no matter what. Whatever is happening you're still the Navi I love. You always will be. Understood?"

Blues regarded him silently for a long moment. Rockman began to feel uncomfortable after a few seconds of this, then he began to squirm, then to fidget, then to blush; he hid his head between his shoulders, and once it reached the lowest point he glared at Blues, pursing his lips out (and now, at last, we known from whence Axl inherited the killer, cuter-than-words pout), and furrowing his eyebrows, the red from his cheeks spreading all the way to his ears and down his collar.

"…it wasn't sappy!" he muttered, accusingly.

Slowly, a smirk like a ray of sun blossomed across Blues's face.

"Did you hear me say it was?"

"You thought it was!"

"Did you hear me _think_ it was?"

Actually, he hadn't; but…

"I know you did!"

"How? Is it the not-quite telepathy again?"

"_Yeah_."

"How stubborn." Blues reached out, cupped Rockman's cheek, pulling him forward until he could touch their foreheads together. "What am I going to do with you?" he said, his breath a low, pleasant caress that sent delighted shivers cascading down Rockman's back.

"You know you love me," Rockman beamed, curling a lock of Blues's hair around his fingers and tugging until their lips were almost touching.

Blues shrugged, grinning still.

"That's another way to phrase it, yes."

Rockman shook his head in fond (but very REAL nonetheless) exasperation, and clicked his tongue.

"Blues could you please, _please_, say the words at least once, instead than circling around them? They're perfectly fine words – they aren't going to hurt you any, you know?"

"You talk as thought I might be expecting them to bite."

"_You_ act as though you are expecting them to bite!"

"You have quite the experience with words coming back to bite you, don't you?"

"_Blues_!" Ah, there goes the pout. We were starting to miss it. "Are you doing it on purpose?! Words don't bite! They're just… just _words_! Nothing more!"

"Exactly my point," Blues said in a tone of voice that implied he'd been saying that all along, and if Rock understood, then why was he arguing? "So why should I waste time saying what I can demonstrate with actions?"

Rockman opened his mouth to retort, found out he had nothing he could possibly say to _that_, closed it, and grudgingly set to make himself comfortable against Blues's side. Turning his back on Blues, he forcibly pulled his mate's arm out of the way. Ducking underneath, he snuggled closer, and then secured Blues's arm firmly across his own waist – all of this, you realize, with his cheeks puffed out and his lips pursed in a pout.

"I hate it, when you make it sound like you're right, even when you're wrong," Rockman muttered.

It was true: Blues had never given Rock any reason to doubt his love…

…but that didn't change the fact that he wanted to hear the 'magic three words', dammit!

"You're impossible," Rock again, pouting still.

Blues smirked.

"But you love me anyway?"

"Oh, shut up."

Rockman snuggled closer, settling down for recharge time. There was a full minute of silence, broken when Rockman expelled a little chuckle. Playfully slapping Blues's arm, he admonished: "I heard that thought!" he squirmed some more, muttered: "Love you," and went back to his rest.

Blues stared at the crown of Rockman head for a moment or two. Then, wordlessly, he put his cheek against Rockman's helmet.

_No_, he vowed again, a split second before his systems shut down for sleep. He wouldn't let anything hurt Rock, or take him away from his side.

_Anything_.

Not even the truth he'd started to suspect about himself and his connection with Kyuraweil.

* * *

**- Scene ****12 cleared.**

**NOW LOADING…**


	20. Stage 5: Maturation part M

**I tried to update as fast as possible. ****This is dedicated to all who asked to see more of the Darkloids. I hope you'll like.**

**Title: **"Infecten – stage 5 – _Maturation 13/?_"

**Author:** Nemesi.

**Fandom:** (MMBN)

**Genre: **Romance. Humour.

**Word Count:**.

**Characters/Pairings: **Blues/Rockman; Netto, Enzan, Axl mainly. Others mentioned.

**Rating:** PG-13.

**Disclaimer:** , its characters, places and themes belong to Capcom, Shogakukan, ShoPro, TV Tokio, etc.. No copyright infringement is intended.

**W****arnings:** Shounen-ai. Un-betaed. Navi-preg (and I claim _ownership_ on this idea). OC.

**A/N:** In this stage, the disease fully develops into a chronic condition.

**Summary: **Uranet. Night-time. A child alone amongst the dunes…

* * * * *

Uranet. Night-time. The sky was a spread of black velvet, sprinkled with golden data like distant stars. There were ribbons of light at the edges, a rainbow-hued circle that encompassed the whole horizon, shifting and turning without pause.

The desert spread as far as the eye could see, undulated like the surface of a stormy sea. And as usual within the forbidden server, there were odd formations and residues scattered here and there in the black sand – a ruined Ferris wheel here, a fallen airplane there. A slim pagoda was silhouetted against the starry sky; and the wooden horse of a merry-go-round lay nestled at the feet of the closest dune, the white paint cracked and flaking as though it was a thousand years old.

In the middle of this desert, under that deceptively beautiful sky, a child stood alone, looking out-of-place and totally in tune with his bizarre surroundings at once. A ribbon of light flared bright high above him, shedding a soft blue light on his upturned little face. His eyebrows were drawn together, his lips pursed into a tearful, but determined frown.

"…Sonic Boom!" Axl hollered, slashing his arm in the direction of a small heap of stones.

When nothing happened, and that (I quote) "stupid attack of his" refused to do its job, Axl brought his hand up and scowled cross-eyedly at his palm, almost as if he thought he could scare the Sonic Boom into motion if he glared hard enough.

It was hard to tell in the low light, but if you looked closely, you'd see he'd grown more in the last few days that he had in all the months he'd spent, safe and sound, in his home at Sci-Labs. Predictably, Yuuichiro's theory on Navis growing-rate being influenced by external factors had been exact. And the sudden change in both the quantity and the quality of the data he was assimilating had pushed Axl into quite the sudden growth spurt.

Oh, he was just a few inches taller, nothing more. He was skinnier as well, having lost some of his baby-fat. But he was still a child in look, and a child where it counted the most: in mind and heart.

And that child wanted his parents.

As in, _now_.

"Sonic boom!" he hollered for the umpteenth time that night. Predictably, his arm didn't morph into a cannon as it was supposed to do, and no surge of energy rippled through him to gather in his hand.

Frustrated, Axl tried again. And again. And again. And againagainagainagain.

"Sonic Boom! Sonic Boom! Sonic Boom! Sonicboomsonicboomsonicboom! SO-NIC BO-OM! S.O.N.I.C.B.O.O.M.! Sonic _BOOM_!" he chanted, bouncing up and down like a yo-yo, eyes squeezed shut, arm whipping up and down like drowning Navi's, voice getting shriller and shriller with each passing second.

"Sonic—Oh, AGH!" On the last bounce, Axl slipped, slumping onto his knees with a cry of surprise. His cheeks were flushed and wet, his eyes burned, and he'd gritted his teeth so hard, his jaw was throbbing with pain.

Wiping resolutely at his eyes, Axl sniffled. Waved his arm around one last time, issuing a small, hopeful: _"Sonic Boom…?", _that was followed by a sparkle, and a sprinkle of stars like a cartoon magician. A plume of smoke rose lazily from the middle of his palm.

He'd failed_._

Again.

Axl promptly burst into tears.

He wanted his Daddy. And he wanted his Papa. And Netto-Ojichan and Enzan-Ojiisan, and Haruka-Obachan and Yuuichiro-Ojiisan. He wanted Roll-Oneesan. And Rush. He wanted his PET, and all the game chips, even those he'd said he'd outgrown already. He wouldn't even object to a lesson of Netiquette with Glyde-Ojichan, he was so desperate.

"I WANNA HOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOME!" He hollered, glowering tearfully at the wide sky above. "Did you hear me? I WANNA HOO--"

"If you're done with the pity show," came a voice behind him, "there are Navis here who're trying to get some _recharge time_."

Axl started a good three inches in the air and whirled around – but the tiredness made him clumsy, and he tripped on his own two feet. He flailed around, arms whirling madly at his side as he tried to regain his footing, oscillating back and forth for a second or two… and finally falling on his butt with a yelp.

The newcomer looked down just in time to see Axl's spectacular teetering and catch the kid before he fell.

Not that he _did_.

But the timing was just about right.

Groaning, Axl picked himself up, a pout firmly lodged on his mouth.

"Kuro-Ojichan!" he whined.

"That would be me, yes," confirmed the Darkloid, not without a certain dose of resignation.

He was draped rather cat-like on a curiously-shaped formation, an immense seashell that was thrice as tall as he was, and iridescent like pearl. The shadows around them were so thick, that for a moment Kuro's eyes seemed to be afloat, burning red like coals in an empty space. Then the sky cleared, ashen light flooded his face and threw it into sharp relief: it was pale like a doll or mannequin's, and just as listless.

"What did you _think_ you were doing?" he questioned dolefully, fixing the child with a glare that could have stripped paint.

Noticing that his pout wasn't having any noticeable effect, Axl deactivate the puppy look mode, and leaned forward, a vaguely conspiratorial (but equally as adorable) air about him.

"I was trying to get my attack to work!"

If that was meant to impress Kuro, it failed.

_Majorly_.

The Darkloid linked his hands underneath his chin, cocked an eyebrow and stone-faced the child. It was a mark of how tolerant he'd grown of the boy that he hadn't flat out shot Axl for disturbing his recharge time.

"You were trying to _what_?"

Flushing, Axl leaped to his feet – barely avoiding another trip-and-fall episode — and thrust his bottom lip so far out, it was amazing it didn't throw him off-balance all over again.

"I need to get stronger if I want to help Daddy and Papa!"

Kuro's other eyebrow went to join his partner in crime at the top his forehead.

"And?"

"Practice makes perfect!" Axl burst out, the picture of sheer excitement incarnate. "And I need to practice to get my attack just right! Uh, actually I need practice to get the Sonic Boom to work at all, but that's beside the point, because in the end I just NEED TO PRACTICE, because if I don't practice, I don't get the attack, and if I don't get the attack, I can't help Daddy and Papa, and I MUST help Daddy and Papa, because if I don't help them, who will? But to help them I need the attack, so I must learn it, and I must learn it quick too, because I miss them and I'm sure they miss me, but if I find them and I can't attack, I won't be able to help them, and if I can't help them, then…"

Kuro raised a hand, a sharp and curt gesture that shut Axl on the spot. A low hiss was raising from the back of his throat, a noise like a angry cat ready to lash out.

"Let me get this straight. This 'Sonic Boom' should be your attack, but you can't use it, and so you're keeping me awake trying to get it to work?"

Axl flushed, and worked himself into a miniature frenzy.

"I can't use it only because…"

…but Kuro had learned by now that the best way to avoid Axl's ramblings was to cut them short at the beginning, which is what he did.

"You're trying too hard," he said, tone clipped, voice dry.

Axl made a fish imitation for a whole minute, before closing his mouth with an audible "click". He pressed his lips together in a shy manner, and began to shift this way and that.

"Daddy always says that, too," he murmured, and I don't think a strawberry milkshake with double cream could've been sweeter than the way he voiced the word "daddy". On his face there was a loving, hero-worshipping look the likes of which could have rivalled a fangirl's (of the rabid kind).

The Darkloid curled his upper lip in a frown.

"Your Daddy? Which is?"

"My father." Matter-of-factly.

"Thanks a _bunch_." Kuro sneered. "Last time I checked, you had two of those. So, which one?"

"Daddy is Blues, and Papa is Rockman!"

Can't you just picture the eye twinkle, eyelash flutter, pouty-lipped look, complete with the happy fluffy pink clouds of otherworldly cuteness on the background? Axl just mentioned _both_ his parents in the same sentence; overreaction on his part was only to be expected.

Kuro, who was naturally allergic to cuteness of any sort, had to suppress the urge to gag at the full throttle attack of cute.

"I never thought I'd see the day I'd agree with a visored leech," he muttered instead. "And I bet your idiot of a Papa and his fool of a Net-Op have been telling you the opposite, mh? Prompting you to-" he pitched his voice, here, doing quite the amazing rendition of Rockman "-do your best and practice the Sonic Boom as much as you can, yada, yada… right?"

"EHY! Papa's not a…!"

"Did he, or didn't he tell you to practice?"

"Yeah, but…"

"Well, heads-up, Kitten." No, it wasn't an endearment. In Kuro's dictionary, that was a insult, and of the worst kind. Because kittens were small and sweet and adorable, and he hated all of the aforementioned things with a passion.

That Axl brightened at the nickname was none of his business. Honest.

"You _are_ a Navi, you _don't have_ to practice to get powers of any sorts, they already_ are_ inside you, they've been _programmed_ there. _They're part of you_. Say —" he gestured with his head towards Axl's arm "—do you have to try that hard to move your arms? Or does it come naturally?"

Axl looked down at his hand, flexed it experimentally a couple of times.

"Err… _naturally_?" Voiced as though it was a guessing game, and he'd get a prize if he answered right.

Kuro snorted.

"Exactly. Now, this 'Sonic Boom' of yours, is no different than that arm, or any other part of your body. So, why the _heck_ would you have to sweat that much to use it, mh? Close your eyes."

Amazing how swiftly, trustingly, Axl followed that order.

"Now, I want you think about something, or someplace you like, and to tell me about it. Anything is fine."

"Anything?"

"Anything."

"Any thing _at all_?"

"Didn't I _just_ say so?"

"Oh. Can I think about the Toystore in Netcity?"

"A..n…y… _thing_," Kuro ground out through clenched teeth, but with a reasonable enough tone.

Axl brightened.

"Really?! Can I imagine Daddy and Papa are there with me?"

Kuro growled – a low, warning sound like a prowling panther, and Axl, who might be young, but had a knack for understanding what wasn't said (he _could_ translate Blues-language to common-language with no problems, after all), took that as an affirmative.

"Okay!" he squealed, brightly. "I _love_ that place, and I _love_ it when Daddy and Papa bring me there, 'cause they always buy me a toy, or the store owner gives me one, it depends, and it's all so bright and coloured in there, it makes you want to laugh and twirl, but of course you can't, because you're in public and Enzan-Ojichan says it'd ruin your reputation if you twirled in public… whatever reputation means."

He grinned, wide and full of light.

Kuro's snarl turned into a gust of laughter (which he tried to cover with a cough), and he settled back against the seashell.

"Now," he began, but Axl interrupted him. _Again_. "What?" Kuro managed forcibly. This was another milestone of how accepting of Axl he'd become – I mean, he was being _patient_ with someone. How often do you see that?

Axl shifted his weight from one foot to the other.

"…can you be there, too?"

Kuro stilled.

"Please?"

"_You_…"

"I love that place," Axl hastened to explain, turning his closed eyes towards were he imagined his Ojichan to be (and focusing a good three meters to Kuro's left). "And I love to go there with people I like. And I like you, Kuro-Ojichan, and Kage-Ojichan, too, and I want you to see that place. So I want you to come along, too."

"…whatever," Kuro offered after a moment's hesitation, visibly steeling himself.

Axl hummed happily, and squeezed his eyes tighter.

"Then you're there!" he squealed. "And Kage-Ojichan is there, and Daddy and Papa are, too. And I am, too. Of course."

"Oh?" Kuro managed, voice crackling slightly.

Axl nodded at his usual motion-sickness speed, and elaborated:

"Yes! We are all there, and we are having fun, and you'd laugh, Kuro-Ojichan, and I bet it'd sound a lot like Papa's laughter but not, you know, like your voice sounds like his own but at the same time is different, but I don't know because you never laugh, and I think you should, and I bet it'd be Kage-Ojichan who'll make you laugh, and I'd laugh with you, and then Daddy would hoist me on his shoulders, because he knows I love riding piggyback, and he'd let me play in his hair, which I also love, and then Kage-Ojichan would go and buy me a sword – a _toy_ sword I mean, I know I can't yet use one, but I will, one day I mean, I…"

"_Now_!" Kuro snapped, unexpected and forceful, like a bolt of thunder. "A virus behind you! Hit it now! NOW!"

Axl twirled around before he could even process the words fully, arm out and fingers splayed.

"_SONIC BOOM_!" he screamed, not panicked as much as determined. He felt a ripple of energy tear through him, and his arm shook. There was a noise like mighty waves crashing against sea-rocks, and then the recoil was flipping him backwards and onto the ground.

It was some time before he propped himself up. He went to his knees, nursing his sore bottom. When he finally looked up, his jaw dropped open in surprise. The small pile of stones he'd been using as a practice target earlier was nowhere to be seen, and there was a huge, burning imprint in the sand, as though a immense blade of flames had slashed the dunes.

Kuro flipped some nonexistent dirt from his shoulder. With this important operation executed, he was finally able to tilt his head, and catch a glimpse of the devastation the Sonic Boom had left in its wake.

"…a bit off to the left," he remarked, shrugging one shoulder. "But it'll do, I guess."

A moment passed. Then Axl propelled himself into Kuro's arms, shocking him out of his skin. The high, carefree laugh streaming from his mouth gradually turned into tears, heavy infants sobs, scared and happy and once, that shook him to the core.

Kage, whose figure had been made visible by the sudden light of Axl's attack, slipped back into the shadows, unnoticed. In the dark, the ivory of his smile and the bloody glint of his visor were all that could be seen of him.

_Oh, yes_, he thought, in wicked elation. _Everything was going _exactly_ as planned…_

**

* * *

**

- Scene

**13 cleared.**

**NOW LOADING…**


	21. Stage 5: Maturation part N

**Title: **"Infecten – stage 5 – _Maturation 14/?_"

**Author:** Nemesi.

**Fandom:** (MMBN)

**Genre: **Romance. Humour.

**Word Count:**3671.

**Characters/Pairings: **Blues/Rockman; Netto, Enzan, Kuro, Kage, Axl. Others mentioned.

**Rating:** PG-13.

**Disclaimer:** , its characters, places and themes belong to Capcom, Shogakukan, ShoPro, TV Tokio, etc.. No copyright infringement is intended.

**Warnings:** Shounen-ai. Un-betaed. Navi-preg (and I claim _ownership_ on this idea). OC.

**A/N:** In this stage, the disease fully develops into a chronic condition.

**Summary: **

* * * * *

**O**ut in the real world, the hunt for the kidnapped Navis was still on.

All of Netto and Enzan's friends - Laika, Raoul, Jasmine, Dingo and Charlie, just to mention a few - had gathered in town, offering support. The Net was patrolled constantly, not only by the Police, but also by the self-assembled squad of their Navis, plus a small contingent of animal-programs lead by Rush.

Maaya (whose hair was now in a pretty, sky-blue bob cut very reminiscent of Rockman's helmet), contributed by slipping information to Enzan regarding IPC, its dealings, its contracts, its investors, supporters, and even enemies (Note to self: Shuuseki really had a _knack_ for not noticing when vital information was stolen under his nose, mh?).

So far, nothing of what she'd found could nail down Enzan's father as the kidnapper. Still, she searched.

And searched.

And searched.

And searched.

…and made photocopies, too. Remember: those are vital, when you want to slip secret info out of an office.

Speaking of Shuuseki, he lived up to our (worst) expectation. He wouldn't drop the charges against Sci-Labs or Dr Hikari, and his endeavours to help the Net Police find IPC's "precious" Navi were tenuous at best, and an hindrance at most.

Also – as Maaya found out comparing some bills and schedules – he'd gone as far as sick that Man-in-black lapdog of his on Enzan, hoping to find some blackmailing material.

Unluckily for him, the worst Enzan had done in his life was having an attitude, and one can't be blackmailed for justified pride. Right?

Right.

So Enzan was relatively safe from Mr Man-in-black's clutches; but that doesn't mean he got it easy.

His life had turned into a string of big, neon-red question marks, pulsing and swirling inside his brain. No matter where he looked, he kept coming up with questions – how did they take the Navis? _Where_ had they be taken? Where the Navis kept together? And if so, what were the odd of them being still in one piece after all this time? Why couldn't the PETs locate them? What were those slimy creatures? How did they get around the protection and into IPC's mainframe? And why was the Uranet's power-level fluctuating so wildly, when several controls had confirmed that nothing unusual was happening in there?

And so on, and on, and on. Plenty and plenty of questions. But answers, they always managed to elude him.

Enzan was having such thoughts, one day as he scavenged the Net for clues, when his PET signalled he had a videocall.

It was a sulky afternoon, chilly after a spell of rain. The Hikari household was surprisingly vacant, with no one to keep Enzan company as he typed away at his PC. In the silence, the insistent ringing of his PET sounded as loud as a child's wailing, and just as unexpected.

Not in very least happy with the disturbance, Enzan flicked the device open, glancing distractedly at the monitor. He was half-expecting to see inspector Oda's face peer back at him, but he couldn't be more mistaken.

As soon as his eyes caught those of the caller, Enzan stiffened. His hand, which had been rubbing his sore neck in an effort to unwind some tension, fell with a thump against his thigh.

"…father."

Shuuseki tilted his head in a silent greeting.

"Boy."

Enzan straightened in his chair, tense like a cat.

"To what do I owe the _pleasure_?"

Shuuseki spread his hand appealingly.

"Need you ask?"

"No, of course not. But I've told you already. You're not getting any data on Axl from me."

"Be reasonable."

Enzan snorted.

"This coming from the man who ordered a child kidnapped?"

Shuuseki pursed his lips, eyebrows drawing together into a deep, long line.

"Boy, boy, boy. We went through this already. I don't have that piece of junk."

Anger coursed through Enzan's vein like liquid fire. He gripped the PET so hard his knuckles turned white.

"So he's been declassed from a gold mine to a mere piece of junk now?!" he drew a deep breath through his teeth, trying to focus. "I may not have proof, but _I know it was you_. IPC's mainframe cannot be hacked. Not unless it's done from the inside, and only one person other than me has clearance to access all the main data banks. Furthermore, just a few hours after the Navis were taken by an unknown force, you have me removed from my office and order me to hand over all info about them. That's an awfully funny coincidence, isn't it, Father?"

"_Awfully _so, boy."

"Don't play dumb with me!" Enzan snapped. "You had someone kidnap the Navis, and once you noticed you couldn't bypass their protections, you came looking for the easy way out!"

Shuuseki smiled tightly.

"If that's what you choose to believe…" he trailed off, spreading his hands again. "However, as you said yourself, you don't have _proof_."

Enzan gritted his teeth.

"What. Do. You. Want?"

"As you so eloquently put it, I want data. _All_ the data you gathered on Navi pregnancy. Once I have it, I might… ah, how to phrase it… consider to invest more time and money searching for those Navis of yours. Some of our business partners would be eager to help out. If I all but said one word…" he moved his hand, as though to imply: 'the three could be found in no time'.

Enzan took a deeper breath.

"Father… I know you can't get any useful data from the Navis themselves. The security program guarding their core was written by myself, Netto and Hikari-hakase. You can't hack it. If you want to create a newborn Navi in a lab…" he held a CD with thumb and forefinger, and waved it before the PET. "…you need this. Our research. The data we gathered. The Navis themselves… they're useless to you without this."

Shuuseki's eyes gleamed as they followed the CD around.

"…and?"

"And I'm ready to offer a bargain. Give me back…" he swallowed. "…give back Blues and Axl, give back _all three of them_, and I'll let you have this. I will keep the whole transaction a secret. Even from Netto. No one will need to know that you're the one behind the abduction, you have my word."

Shuuseki frowned.

"As tempted as I am by your offer, I fear I cannot meet my side of the bargain. Ask for something else, boy. I don't have those Navis."

"Damn it all, Father!" Enzan shouted. Shuuseki watched ruefully as the CD was flung across the room and collided with the nearest wall. "How can you refuse me this? I'm your son, and that's my nephew you've kidnapped! My _nephew_! A child!"

Shuuseki froze, going so unnaturally still one may think the connection had screwed up and the call had been cut off without notifying the video. Then an angry flush rose to his cheeks, and he shook over.

"That _nonsense again_!"

Enzan frowned, but had no time to question what or who he was talking about, that Shuuseki was in full-blown rant.

"Blues and his blasted offspring are in no way related to you, did I make myself clear? _No_ _way_! That damned red Navi is nothing to you – he _is_ nothing! _Nothing_!"

Enzan swallowed a bitter lump. Barely refrained from informing his father that Blues had been more of a parent to him that Shuuseki himself.

"You're wrong," he said calmly. "Blues is _family_."

A shudder chased its way down Shuuseki's body. His fist came down onto his desk with a loud bang.

"He has never been," he hissed, enunciating. "And never will be _family!_ He's not even human, he's a digital _thing_, an _object_. Any relation you _think_ he might have with you is nothing but the delusion of an addled mind! You'd better put this kind of crazy talk behind yourself, Enzan, just the way _I_ did."

And the connection closed.

Enzan watched the static creak and flash across the PET screen for a long moment, then flipped it close with a sigh.

_Fantastic_. A wagon-load of new questions had just been unloaded on top of those he was already busy answering. Just what he needed.

* * * * *

"…_nothing_!"

What's with the Uranet and noise? Seriously. This is supposed to be a devastated land of endless quiet, but we've yet to switch to this place and not be greeted by a loud noise or the other.

"We came all this way just to find… _nothing_!" Kuro hissed again, marginally less loud that the first time. He'd been trudging mutinously in their makeshift camp during the first yell, backpedalled at the sight of a sleeping Axl during the silence, and went to vent his frustration on Kage, who sat just outside the wavering circle of light of their fire.

"No Kyuraweil, no blobs of slime, no Rock-damn-him-man, no-_thing_!"

Kuro prodded the fire angrily with a stick, then squatted, muttered something through his teeth, threw a blast at the flames – which doubled in size – and turned the other way, all the time frowning, not _pouting_(you know by now the reason for that specification, so there's no need to reiterate).

Kage's attention didn't seem to divert from his sword. He was honing the blade, pushing a dark, gritty stone along the edge in long, careful strokes. Firelight flowed like water down the steel, was caught and refracted in fat, luminous shards across Kage's visor.

"This is just a waste of _time_!" Kuro reiterated, hissing in that particular way that managed to convey fury, despite the lowlowlow level of his voice.

Kage didn't bother to turn.

"The delay angers you?"

Kuro darted him a glance with serious health-harming properties.

"No, Kage, I'm actually very happy and even though I look like I'm sitting here brooding in the dark to you, I'm actually dancing about in _glee._"

Kage tapped the edge of his blade, made it tinkle like a silver bell.

"How nice. I never knew you had an interest in ballet."

Kuro didn't dignify that with a verbal response.

A charged plasma shot more than sufficed.

A very-very silent blast, though – with Axl sleeping nearby, curled cutely into himself like a kitty, head almost between his knees, Kuro was loath to make noise.

And no, Kuro hadn't just thought the word "cute" and "Axl" in the same sentence.

It was your imagination only.

Speaking of the child, Kuro darted him a glance from above his shoulder, and his mouth went on autopilot before he could stop it.

"Do you think…" Kuro began, only to clam up suddenly, lips pressing angrily together.

There was a few moments of silence, then:

"Do I? Yes, of course. Thinking is an habit of mine," Kage said. "Though I can't really say the same for _you._"

The stone Kuro hurtled his way was dodged effortlessly, as per usual.

"Why aren't _you_ the least bit angry about this all?" Kuro asked, narrowing his eyes into a calculating look. "It was _you_ who insisted we came looking for Kyuraweil in the deepest part of the Uranet. We've found no leads whatsoever, no proof that your brilliant intuition is at all right, but you don't seem to care. Why's that?"

"While I did suggest this course of action, indeed," Kage answered, enunciating. "I always knew it would take us some time to find our quarry."

"Define 'some time', leech."

Kage made a shrugging motion.

"A month. A year. Who knows?"

He did manage to dodge the punch, but the body attached to it came barrelling onto his chest, slamming him to the ground. There was a brief struggle, surprisingly silent despite the huge clouds of dust it whipped up, and then Kage had Kuro pinned underneath him, one hand firmly clamped over his mouth.

"That was a jest, catboy from Hell. A_ jest_. You need to work on your sense of humour if you couldn't tell."

In response, Kuro bit down _hard_ on Kage's hand, and for once seemed to have dealt him some damage. I mean, if the muffled curse was anything to go by. ("muffled" because Kage also found Axl adorable in his vulnerable state and was loathe to wake him up).

Kage pulled away with a pained hiss, and Kuro took the opening to sit up and scoot a little bit away from the swearing Kagemusha. His shoulders were shaking slightly, his cheeks dimpled, and if Kage didn't know better, he would've sworn that Kuro was muffling a peal of delighted giggles behind his palm.

…but know better he did, because Kuro had graciously informed him, in a lecture that had started (and ended) with a round kick to the lower half of Kage's stomach, that he was genetically incapable of giggling, because giggling was Rockman material, and he was. Not. Rockman.

_Period_.

"Serves you _right, _samurai leech," Kuro whispered, looking over at his companion with mirthful eyes.

Kage smiled right back at him, a smile like a shark's, all pointy white teeth.

"You realize, yes, that you will have to pay for this?"

Kuro flashed him a devilish grin, and a wicked, eyelash-fluttering look.

"I'd like to see you _try_."

He was still sitting on the ground, so he had no qualms about unfurling one of his legs, reaching over to poke Kage with the tip of his boot.

Kage caught the offending appendage, smirking, and he was still smirking when he used his leverage to spread Kuro's legs apart and slither between them until their chests were pushing together.

"_Watch me._"

What would've ensued – be it a fight, or something more monumental such as the release of too-long suppressed emotions – we will never know. Even as Kuro opened his mouth for a come-back, a rustling noise came from Axl's direction, followed by a muffled, tearful whimper.

The two Darkloids turned as one towards the child, their quarrel forgotten.

In the firelight, his cheeks looked flushed, almost feverish; and the barely-dry tracks of his tears gleamed like silver. He seemed to shiver, curling tighter on himself. He muttered: "Daddy… Papa…", very softly and very sweetly, then quietened down.

Wordlessly, Kage went to his feet. Walking over to Axl, he brushed a hand trough his unruly hair, which seemed to calm the child a great deal.

When Kage looked up from his task, he found Kuro gazing intently at them, half-mesmerized by the sight of Kage's big, armoured hand moving gently across Axl's round cheek, drying the tears away.

"You've grown fond of this child, haven't you?" Kage asked quietly.

Kuro looked sharply at him. For several moments, it seemed like he was working himself into a royal frenzy, but in the end he could summon up only enough energy to give a shrug.

He looked away, glowering, not _pouting_, hands clutching his elbows tight enough to hurt. When he spoke, his voice was hoarse, cracking like gravel.

"No. Not at all."

Kage regarded him in silence. The flames danced and leaped across his visor, but his face was a complete blank.

"There is nothing wrong with it," he offered.

Kuro ground his teeth together harshly.

"Shut _up_."

"Kuro…"

"I said – shut up!"

"Ku…"

"Shut the _Hell_ up!"

Kage pressed his lips together. Kuro glowered at him, hunching instinctively when the other Darkloid went to his feet slowly, a liquid, majestic motion, and advanced towards him.

Kage knelt beside his ruffled companion, but offered him no words for a long time. Only at length, he said:

"I like him, too." Reaching out, he touched Kuro's cheek like it was liable to shatter if he applied too much pressure. "I like this routine we have. I like how we suddenly look like a family. Me, you, and him. Like a small pack in the savannah. Two parents and one cub, journeying through the wastelands and looking out for one another. It's nice. Isn't it, Kuro?"

Kuro didn't seem to breathe any easier after that. Turning away, he stared at the cracks running across the stony ground, issuing a low, threatening growl from the back of his throat. He didn't acknowledge Kage when he moved, shifting closer. Nor did he flinch when the red Kagemusha curled his body around behind him to push their cheeks together.

"Kuro… I know you like this, too. This life. It appeals to you. It feels good not to be alone anymore, doesn't it? It feels good to have a purpose. To be on the move, to be fighting again, fighting for someone important. Kuro…"

Slowly, subtly, his dark aura was spreading in tendrils around him, enclosing Kuro in a loose, shadowy embrace. His power, his warmth, his voice, his smell, his weight settling — fitting — against his body much too perfectly … Kuro found himself spellbound, like a rabbit before the snake's eyes.

"…we could make this real, if we wanted," Kage crooned, breath fanning against Kuro's cheek. "Make a _real_ family, with a cub of our own, and not just taken on loan from someone else. We could…"

He covered Kuro's hand with his own, and that triggered a reaction, however harsh.

Kuro wrenched himself away like a burned cat. There was a dark, shining mark and a swirl of deteriorating pixel on his bottom lip, where he'd sunk his teeth in his anger. He was breathing hard and fast, back ramrod-stiff, fists clenched, lips pulled back over gnashed teeth. But the light in his eyes… it wasn't anger. It was desperation.

"I know what you're trying to do," he hissed. "You think you are so clever, don't you? But I know, Kage. I _know_ how you spurned your Net-Op, when you first came into being; how you tried to kill Netto, time and again, but wanted, no, _begged_! Rockman to join you in darkness every chance you got!" he was trembling, hard shudders borne of fury. "I know what you felt for him. But I'm _not_ Rockman. And I won't _be used as a substitute for him_!"

Kage, he was the picture of calm. Even as Kuro shuddered, heaved and hollered, Kage stood still as a statue, his face impassive.

"Kuro," he said, and his voice was surprisingly gentle. "You are right, I wanted Rockman to join me. I had the memory of his relationship with Blues inside me, when I was created. And I ached to have what they had. I wanted someone that could complete me the way Rockman completed Blues." He paused, and choose his next words carefully.

"I didn't want Rockman per se… I _loathed_ his cheerfulness, his bravery, his golden heart. But as a dark version of Blues, I thought that only a dark version of him could ever satisfy me, complete me as I was meant to be completed. I wanted him to follow me, so that I could corrupt him and create my own perfect mate. But then _you_ came along…"

He'd been shifting closer as he talked, and now he was able to cup Kuro's cheek in his hand, the pale iciness of it burning against his palm.

"…and you were perfection on your own. You were everything I could ever want, or need. And how could it be any different? They are made for each other. And as their darkest selves, so are we."

Kuro let our a short bark of a laugh, a bitter and harsh sound. He slapped Kage's hand away from his face like a vile thing and rose to his feet, blazing with a kind of fury.

"Ah, but this is were you are wrong. Rockman might love Blues; but as his Shadow, I can feel only dark and violent emotions." His expression was cold, his countenance hard and cruel. And yet, beyond the anger, beyond the bitterness, there was a kernel of pain and despair.

"This is to say…" he stated shakily, "I hate you, Kage. _I hate you with all my core._"

He leapt into the shadows before Kage could formulate a reply.

Kage shook his head, and was about to get up and follow, when Axl began to bawl like a newborn whale, or some other very huge, _very_ noisy thing, screaming and hiccupping and looking so flushed you'd think he'd been baked in the oven for an hour or two.

Kage was thorn between following Kuro and have his eyes clawed out, and try to comfort Axl and save his eardrums from bursting. He decided he liked _all_ his body parts in place and functioning, and went back to the child.

"What's wrong _now_?" Clipped, but not totally devoid of warmth.

Axl issued a louder bawl and went two shades darker on the cheeks (one can't bawl, talk _and_ breathe at the same time).

"I-I-I-I-I-I'm sowwy!!!!!"

"What for?"

Axl struggled to speak.

"He… he said he hates you!" he managed between sobs. "Kuro-Ojichan said he hates you! But I don't want Kuro-Ojichan to hate Kage-Ojichan! I want them to love each other!"

"Oh, that." Kage smiled, something that surprised Axl so much, it calmed his crying a great deal.

Reaching out, Kage put a hand on Axl's head, rubbed it briskly but affectionately.

"I wouldn't worry about it," he said.

Axl cocked his head to a side questioningly, and sniffled.

"No?"

Kage grinned, shook his head and said, with a pleased air about himself:

"That's the first time he's _willingly_ admitted to having a core, or feelings of any sorts. That's actually a _progress_."

And what a _big_ progress.

He doubted that he would have been able to crack Kuro's defences so quickly, if it wasn't for Axl. Kage made a mental note to buy the child something – maybe that toy sword he'd mentioned – if and when they all survived this, and went to his feet, squinting into the direction Kuro had disappeared into.

Now, if only the rabid catboy from Hell would realize where their destiny lay, and stop denying himself to Kage, they'd be one step away from conquering the world.

That he meant _all_ of it in the _most literal_ sense, it's another matter altogether.

**- Scene ****14 cleared.**

**NOW LOADING…**

* * *

Soooooo… those of you who thought Kage was just trying to seduce Kuro were right, but so were those who feared he had something darker up his sleeve. Kuro's seduction it's only the first half of a bigger plan…


	22. Stage 5: Maturation part O

**Title: **"Infecten – stage 5 – _Maturation 15/?_"

**Author:** Nemesi.

**Fandom:** (MMBN)

**Genre: **Romance. Humour.

**Word Count:**4411. _**Supah long chappie!!!!!**_

**Characters/Pairings: **Blues/Rockman; Kuro, Kage, Axl mainly. Others mentioned.

**Rating:** PG-13.

**Disclaimer:** , its characters, places and themes belong to Capcom, Shogakukan, ShoPro, TV Tokio, etc.. No copyright infringement is intended.

**Warnings:** Shounen-ai. Un-betaed. Navi-preg (and I claim _ownership_ on this idea). OC.

**A/N:** In this stage, the disease fully develops into a chronic condition.

**Summary: **Kuro sulks, Kage plots, Axl wonders, Rockman does too, and Blues… Blues gets his worst fears confirmed.

* * * * *

This is going to sound entirely too familiar to the readers, but presently, a severely unhappy Kuro with a sting in the hand he'd slapped Kage with, and his face the colour of strawberries was stomping along the Uranet — navigating across corrupted areas, firing at random viruses that were unfortunate enough to cross his path, and generally being grumpy.

Rings a bell?

Thought so.

That's exactly how Rock behaved in Stage 3, after slapping Blues and storming away in much the same fashion as Kuro.

The similarities, as you might imagine, didn't end there.

Just like Rock so many chapters ago, Kuro was also having a mental conversation with himself, that went more or less like so: part of his brain told him he should've _expected_ Kage to pull a stunt like that. That Kage lusted after Rockman – not him, _Rockman, _that damn happy-go-lucky thing Kuro happened to be a carbon copy of – and that he should remember to stay well without touching range of the bastard.

The other part of Kuro's brain recoiled in hurt at the rebuff. He _knew_ that Kage wanted him around only just because Kuro reminded him of the one he lusted after, but that didn't mean he liked to be reminded of it.

So thinking, said part of Kuro's brain went into a sulk, and the purple Darkloid lashed out in blind anger (which resulted in some spectacular explosions that rattled the Uranet from highest to lowest level).

The more he thought about the past events, the angrier he got (and the more destruction he unleashed on his wake). Kage had been playing him all along, had he? Using Axl as a distraction so that he could hit Kuro when he was most vulnerable.

The details were fuzzy but easy to guess, in hindsight. Kage had gone to the Upper Levels either to get Rockman, or the little Axl. But then the slimy sentries from Kyuraweil had shown up, ruining his plan.

His pride stung, Kage had improvised a rescue mission; and everything that followed, their meeting, the journey, — even the butterfly accident _had_ to have been staged somehow! — was all an elaborated ploy to get Kuro addicted to having a family.

As soon as that was accomplished, Kage had tried to use those newfound _feelings_ – Kuro shuddered even as he thought the word – to his advantage, and…

…and this is approximately when the part of Kuro's brain that had recoiled in hurt before suddenly perked up from its sulky session, acquired several followers, and pointed out hopefully that, really, only one explanation made sense at that point.

Kage had _really_ meant what he'd said.

He really wanted Kuro, and not Rockman. He wanted Kuro to hold and protect, wanted to bind the two of them together with that unbreakable bond that's commuting, that digital miracle only Navis are privy to. He wanted them to be one, and as one, to have a child, a child of their own, a little, chubby thing, soft all over, with the dimpling cheek and huge expressive eyes the same as Kuro's, and silky pale skin and hair like Kage's, a miniature…

…the daydream was cut short when that part of Kuro's brain was dealt a quick, painless death with a random blunt object.

Kuro ground to a sudden halt, and raked his fingers down the his face, feeling his anger yeld to frustration.

He didn't get it.

He just didn't _get it._

No matter how much tempting, how much _logical_ it sounded, Kuro couldn't believe – couldn't _let himself_ believe – that Kage honestly cared for _him_. The leech wanted Rockman, had _always_ wanted him, ever since he'd been created.

It was in a previous life, true – long before whoever was inside Kyuraweil brought the two of them back from deletion and used them as guinea pigs. But Kuro had done nothing, _nothing_, that would justify Kage's attraction to him.

The time they spent together was filled with yelling and fighting and quarrelling and shouting and clawing and biting and kicking where you really aren't supposed to kick another (male) Navi, and elbowing and maiming and taunting and other such horrible things.

What was there to love or lust about?

What did Kuro _have_ that was worth loving?

What could he offer that wasn't a cheap, foul imitation of Rockman's own qualities?

Swallowing his hurt, Kuro forced himself to play with the most likely outcome for this little adventure of theirs – they'd save their Originals, thus ensuring their own survival; and then Kage would give Axl back to his parents, but only in exchange for Rockman. Axl would go back home, and Kage would whisker Rockman off the Uranet with him.

And Kuro would be _alone_.

"So _what_?"

Kuro asked, frowning, not _pouting_, at his own reflection. He'd ended up near a stretch of water the same colour of steel or molten silver, that flashed oddly and almost rhythmically under the bruise-purple sky.

He'd always thought himself soulless and heartless, and took pride in the gaping void inside him. But the face staring up at him from the water told a different story. There was something irritating about its countenance, something haunting and desperate, a weakness that moved him to anger.

He brought his fist down harshly on the water-face, watching with hollow satisfaction as it broke in one million little waves and sailed away, each small fragment of it trembling and jittering, but basically going nowhere.

He knew he shouldn't feel the way he did, but he couldn't seem to stop himself. He… he really did… he really lov—_appreciate_d Kage more than it was safe to admit out loud.

But alluring as Kage was, as intoxicating as Kuro found his presence, his heat; as much as Kuro wanted to melt into the sensual pleasure of his kisses, Kage didn't belong to him, and Kuro honestly couldn't give himself to Kage, not when he was going to be used as a substitute for the real, better thing, too far out of reach for Kage to ever obtain.

Honestly, he'd gone through enough pain and torture in his life, to willingly put himself into such an ordeal.

"It's not worth it," he told the face in the water. "Not when the only reason he likes me is because I remind him of someone else."

The face squinted up at him, eyes narrowed in a pained frown. Kuro rubbed his face again, even harsher than before. Kicked a stone or two, blasted another three or twelve into oblivion with his buster, when he suddenly became aware of a shadow looming over him, of a chill running up his spine and a buzzing like angry bees filling his ears.

He looked up with a shudder, and his jaw dropped open in surprise.

"KAGE!" he called, the shock of what he was seeing spearing through his self-pity and clearing his mind as effectively as a bucket of cold water. "_KAGE_! YOU USELESS LEECH, COME HERE RIGHT THIS INSTANT! I'VE FOUND KYURAWEIL!"

Time for wallowing: over.

Battle mode: activated.

* * * * *

How long Rockman and Blues slept upon the floor of the storeroom I'm not sure, but it must have been many hours.

Rockman was the first to come to, emerging from sleep mode with a small, satisfied groan. He was still in that fuzzy, drowsy pre-waking stage when the world was a bright and beautiful place and getting up was just a waste of a perfectly good morning cuddle.

He arched against his mate, sinuous like a cat, and the hand resting between his shoulder blades slid down to the small of his back in a slow, barely-there caress that made him purr. He nuzzled Blues for a moment, then reality came crashing down on him, and he realized, with a clarity that his weariness had denied him the previous evening, just how _vulnerable_ they'd made themselves.

Immediately, he scrambled to his feet, scanning the room with wide, untrusting eyes.

Blues watched him go in silence, then rose to his feet with economy of motion.

"Don't worry. We're safe, here," he said, with that unique blend of shortness and softness of his.

Rockman turned towards him, looking entirely torn. On the one hand, he had no logical basis _not_ to worry: falling asleep in the very core of the Keep was hardly a good move. On the other hand, it was just _so hard_ not to trust Blues on his word…

"…really?" Rock asked, worrying his bottom lip with his teeth.

Blues nodded once, then looked at the teeming shadows above them as though he could see through their curtain and into the distance.

"The security for this level is almost completely off."

Rockman started, stiffening.

"We…" he swallowed, tried to contain the words and found out he didn't want to, not really. "…we're being lead on, aren't we? We've been _allowed_ to reach this level. This is a trap."

Blues looked back down at him, and Rockman thought, not for the first time, how nice it'd be to have the visor gone.

"Not necessarily," Blues answered him, voice a low and reassuring croon. "A massive data load is clogging up the Keep's network. In peripheral areas, some applications were still capable of running without pinging the central core for instructions; but here the total data volume has whipped up a storm of clutter. It's like the Keep's core is battling a bug and can't manage the usual maintenance tasks. Marginal functions such as the security system have been turned off in here, to detour the energy to the primary systems."

Rockman blinked.

"This thing _froze down_?"

"Not quite." Blues shook his head. "It just reacts extremely slowly to stimuli."

Rockman grinned.

"Do we qualify as stimuli?"

"I'd say so."

"So it can't see us?"

Blues cocked a shoulder in a half-shrug.

"Either that, or it just can't do anything about it."

Rockman exhaled in relief.

"Good. For a moment, I thought…"

"I know." Blues said, not unkindly. "But don't let that fool you into dropping your guard down. There's bound to be quite a large number of Slimers, if not Darkloids, this deep in the Keep. And with the security system turned off…"

"…_you_ can't sense them, just as they can't sense _us_," Rockman finished for him.

Blues went still for a moment, then nodded, briskly. Summoning his sword, he sliced the shadows with the glowing blade, silently testing its efficiency.

At his signal, Rock summoned his buster. His eyes unfocused as he gave his systems a once-over.

"Everything seems a-ok," he offered after a minute.

Sword at the ready, Blues took away the seals he'd put all around the room, and stepped out. He found a couple of Slimers hobbling drunkenly to and fro just outside the door, and spared them a disgusted glance.

Rockman kicked them inside the room they'd just vacated and carefully sealed the door. The Slimers sloshed about agitatedly for a few seconds, then quietened. After a while a low buzzing noise came from inside the room, like the breathing of deeply-asleep animals.

Rockman and Blues shared a last look, and then took at a run towards their final destination: Kyuraweil's core, the Central Control Room.

* * * * *

"You sure Daddy and Papa are in there?" Axl, pointing a finger at the Keep. It was floating above and ahead of them like a storm cloud, dark and dotted with small, pale lights like soulless eyes.

Kage offered a nod, but didn't turn towards the child, nor did he move from his tense, cross-armed stance. The place evoked horrible memories, memories of fear and pain and humiliation, memories of being used and tortured that he'd give anything to erase.

"Oh. 'Kay," Axl muttered, trying to make sense of the tense vibes coming from his two Ojichan, and failing. "But how do we get in there?"

"Same way we got out," Kuro snapped, scowling, not _pouting_.

"…which is…?"

Kuro jerked a finger towards the root-like appendages spawning from under the flying structure of Kyuraweil. The greenish tentacles were moving about restlessly, testing the ground, patting, pushing, sliding, grinding, sucking in data in an endless flow.

Kage offered a quiet: "Tactile ducts," then settled back into stony silence. Axl blinked.

Kuro watched the tentacles warily for a while, then steeled himself.

"Let's get going. I've no intention to get deleted only because Rockchick was stupid enough to get deleted himself."

Kage darted him a glance out of the corner of his eye.

"Rock_chick_?"

Kuro shrugged.

"Hey, get me proof he's not the bottom of the pair, and I might revaluate the name."

Axl managed to stay quiet for the whole of three seconds, then burst.

"What's 'bottom' mean? Uh? _Uh?_"

* * * * *

The corridor ended with an old, rusty door. There was no such thing as rust in the Net, and try as he might, Rockman couldn't find a reason why someone would program it on anything.

"Because rust is ominous," Blues supplied. Rockman glanced at him, surprised by the statement, but not by the latest show of telepathy between them.

"Ominous?"

Blues nodded.

"Rust is the symbol of decay. Rust signifies the passage of time. Of _much_ time. It's an equivalent of death, at least for non-organic things. They grow old, then rusty, and then fall apart." He touched the door, the rust-caked metal leaving a trail of fine, blood-coloured dust on the pads of his fingers. "Supposing this rust isn't a physical manifestation of some bug or system error, it could be a metaphor."

Rockman cocked his head to a side.

"Soooooooo… the door is rusty because it's… _old_?"

"It's rusty," Blues remarked, low-voiced and pensive, "because there's something behind it, something malevolent and hungry that's been gnawing at it, crouching in silence, waiting for its change to spring out of the confines of its cage and spread its poison. Aiming to corrupt... what?" he mused. "The Keep? The Net? Or the whole of the Cyber World?"

Rockman barely suppressed a shudder.

"We have to stop this."

Blues let his hand drop.

"I know, we…" he trailed off into silence when a ping ran through his systems, as though an alarm had gone off somewhere in the distance, and he was being notified for whatever reason.

He narrowed his eyes. Reaching back through his odd connection with Kyuraweil, he searched for whatever might have caused the drunken security to stir.

Rockman watched him in silence, well aware that his mate was doing something he couldn't quite understand. A few seconds later, Blues seemed to shake himself awake, and pressed his lips together. There was too much white noise to get a clear reading, but something odd was taking place in the lowermost levels of the Keep. He'd got a small flash of their appearance – root-like appendages that writhed lazily in the wind, capturing and encoding data – but he hadn't been able to understand what was wrong with them.

He glanced up at Rockman, both troubled and relieved by the understanding look on his face.

"The coast is clear," he said, trying to pass his momentary slip as something else.

Blessed be telepathy, Rockman thought, and tilted his head in wonder.

"Can you _feel_ Axl behind that door?"

"No." _But…_

Rockman frowned, feeling the hesitance.

"But?"

Blues dismissed the feeling that, while not in _there _Axl was close enough, and shook his head.

"Nothing. Let's go," he said, getting a nod as an answer.

"You open the door, I leap in first?"

"_You_ open the door, _I_ leap in."

"As if," Rockman held his buster high, as if to say: _I'm_ the one with the long-range weapon, sugar. "On the count of three?"

Blues readied his sword.

"Together?"

"As usual."

Glancing at each other, they quickly stood on either side of the door.

"One…"

"Two…"

"…THREE!"

Blues's blade sliced neatly through the door, revealing the dark gawping expanse of a high-ceilinged corridor behind.

Rockman leaped forward, buster armed, and rolled for cover to the right. Blues dashed in less than a second after, but leaped to the left, crouching behind a crooked panel.

Once they were sure the cost was clear, Blues made a gesture with his head. Rockman immediately darted up, and was startled when a loud bang echoed behind them. They both whirled around, stunned into silence. There was no entrance anymore, just a solid wall, stretching smoothly in both directions as a wall was supposed to do.

Rockman walked up to it, touched it, then rapped his knuckles across its surface. Yep. Solid as stone.

"Now what?"

Blues glanced over his shoulder down the length of the corridor. It was crowded with antiquate-looking pieces of hardware, with cables trailing across them and from above like soggy hair. There was a light shining at its end, eerie and inviting at once.

He walked towards it in silence, blade at the ready, protecting Rockman from danger but at the same time willing him to guard his back.

At the end of the passage there was a spacious room, vaulted like a cathedral, and just as dimly lit. Through the teeming shadows, they could make out the crooked, otherworldly shapes and geometric patterns of something out of a Sci-Fi virtual reality. Moving pools of light brought in sharp contrast the patches of rust, dark like dried blood, caking every surface. On the walls, the slime oozed like a dark, oily perspiration, tracing glyphs and tattoos on the tiles, and gathering in churning piles on the floor.

The place reeked of ruin and decay, and seemed forlorn. And yet, beyond the rust, the corruption, its ancient splendour still shone through, unreachable like light reflecting off a mirror.

It was an haunted place, Rockman thought. The ghost of itself, trailing heavy chains as it wandered aimlessly in the dark recesses of its haunt. It was a sad thought, to match a sad sight. Sad and scary and pitiable, all at once.

Rockman felt almost overwhelmed by those emotions as he advanced on. It was like someone was pouring them inside his veins like a sort of poison. They clogged his throat, made his eyes prickle.

Blues wasn't faring any better. The moment they had stepped from the corridor and into the room, something invisible had seemed to come forth and wrap around him. Ghost-sensations had hit him, crashing into and _through_ him like waves, so powerful it was a wonder Blues hadn't reeled back under their relentless push.

There was something familiar here, buried under the twisted and the horrible, and it was dismaying. It was as though some other person's feeling and sensations were passing though him, like water that flows down a sluice and leaves pieces of gold for the riffles to retain – pieces that are too small and lightweight to be of importance, but that are precious nonetheless.

"…not here."

Blues was brought back from reverie by the sound of Rockman's voice. He glanced over his shoulder at Rockman, who took a look around before meeting his eyes.

"I said," he repeated without prompting, somehow knowing his mate hadn't quite been with him. "I sure am glad Axl is not here."

Blues nodded, then faced forward again.

"I know what you mean."

Rockman grimaced.

"This place's horrible," he said, and his voice echoed around them, bouncing off the walls in fading waves.

Instead than answering, Blues stilled. Rockman came to a stop beside him and, following his line of vision, he noticed an immense workstation emerging from an alcove like a shrine in the opposite wall.

It was a perfect replica of a model in use about thirty-some years before, when science had started to take its first, wobbly steps into the virtual reality. It was studded with bleeping lights and keys, head-sets trailing like vines from a oval-shaped video monitor that hung, like a lidless eyes, from above.

Its appearance alone testified that the Keep was very old, probably as old as the internet itself: back then, everything that man created in the net was created to his own standards, copied from something or the other available in the programmer's reality.

Blues darted forward towards the console. Wiped a hand across its length, leaving a trail in the layer of dust there gathered. After sharing a glance with Rockman, he started to twiddle with a few buttons, pushed levers and turned switches, hoping that hacking into the systems wouldn't be too difficult.

At a first glance, it didn't seem to be. But a few tries confirmed that the original protection had been rewritten recently, and the additions seemed to be the product of an insane mind. Statistically speaking, the best approach would be to input casual codes at high speed, which is what Blues started doing.

Rockman watched him working, frowning slightly when he became aware of all the dirt and cobwebs that festooned their suits and armours. He began to wipe them fastidiously away.

"Slime, rust, cobwebs, dust… whoever programmed this place isn't right in the head," he muttered.

Blues was so engrossed in his task, he answered Rockman without even turning towards him.

"The basic program of this place is quite old; but the slime is a foreign element that was _forced_ inside the systems in recent times. My guess is that the dust and all the rest is a physical manifestation of Noah rejecting the…" he paused, jolted into sudden awareness, feeling Rockman start almost in unison with him.

A wave of non-memories came back to him from depths of his own programming he wasn't familiar with, and he knew. Suddenly, without doubt, he _knew_.

This was Noah, they were in. Noah.

Not Kyuraweil.

_Noah._

And she originally wasn't a torture place, a prison, or a Keep but…

"A ship," Blues murmured with renewed wonder. "This is a ship. And her name is Noah."

Rock blinked, not quite startled, but getting there steadily fast.

"Like the man from the bible? The one who built the Ark?"

Blues nodded, still not turning towards Rock, hands moving now with renewed purpose across the console.

"Noah _is_ an Ark. She was the first Searching Unit humans ever created to scour the Cyber World. She's a program, like Rush, but unlike him, she was given a massive appearance, to better suit her mission."

"Mis…sion?"

Blues didn't seem to hear him.

"The cells in the upper levels… they used to be storage rooms in which to keep her findings as she went, simple archives," he said, tone low and almost wistful.

Rockman's breathing hitched in his throat. Blues wasn't reading the information anywhere – it seemed like he was pulling it from his own memory. Panic settled like a hot, twitching lump in his throat, and he had to swallow several times before he could get back his bearings.

"The labs where we found the eggs are being used as torture rooms," Blues went on, not pausing once. "But once their only function was to decode and study empirical data. _This_ is why she keeps moving around aimlessly: she was meant to travel through the whole of the Cyberworld, taking samples and studying them."

Without asking, Blues gathered Rockman's hand in his own, and pressed it, palm-down, on the console.

Rockman felt the metal pulse weakly, a sort of tired greeting. For a moment, he thought he saw, flashing behind his closed eyelids, the faded, blurry image of an elderly lady in a shawl, with sallow eyes and long grey tresses. She was beckoning with her hand and smiling welcomingly at him, speaking words too soft to be heard, but that seemed gentle and soothing.

"But someone took her and turned her into this horror," Rockman said, and knew suddenly that was the truth. "She probably got lost or damaged, and whoever found her, did… _this_."

And he didn't mean just the evil-looking slime forced into her bosom, the filth and the patches of rust caking the place; but also the wobbly Slimers with their empty eyes and toothless grins, the cracked eggs flowing with a foul liquid, the inhuman experiments on the revived Darkloids, their brainless, melting-alive copies that suffered hell on earth. And then, against her will, she was being used as a prison, as a hellish incubator for brainless monsters, as a vault of tortures for just-revived Navis. Being used to host the abducted Blues and Rockman, if not Axl – oh my, Axl, where _are_ you, now, Axl? – giving birth to the wicked copies they'd had to confront in their cells, housing and dispatching those Slimers, nestling and nurturing them as their creator plotted for conquest and destruction…

Rockman felt a sudden surge of pity. It welled up in his throat, like a physical rush of bile, coating his mouth with an acrid taste, and pushing against his chest until he couldn't breathe.

"We must free her." He said slowly.

He paused a moment, eyes wide with realization. And then, slowly, his face lit up, and as he exhaled shakily, a tremulous smile appeared on his lips.

"Is this why you knew so much about this place, Blues? Because _she_ was calling out for help?" his excitement grew as he spoke. Each words sent him into higher gear, until he was breathless with a sort of joyful hope, hands pressed to his thumping core as though trying to contain it within his chest.

"You _don't_ knowthis place! She was sending out SOS signals, and somehow managed to interface with you. That's all the was to it! It's just a _coincidence_! You aren't linked to it! You never were!" he expelled a laugh, feeling light-headed with relief.

Blues watched Rockman in silence. Watched the tinkle in his eyes, the curve of his mouth, the flash of white teeth as his lips parted into that ever-widening smile that he loved so much.

He watched Rockman, and had no heart to tell him that no, Noah hadn't reached out to him simply because he was the only one there to listen.

She hadn't interfaced with him by coincidence.

She knew him.

She _knew_ him.

Blues had long suspected it, but now he was sure: touching the console had opened up something in him, some long forgotten partition of his electrical soul, from which the knowledge had risen, unbidden, like a sleeping beauty from her glass casket.

He knew Kyuraweil, he knew _Noah_, was linked to her in the deepest, most basic way two digital creatures could be linked.

_They were born of the same programmer_.

**- Scene ****15 cleared.**

**NOW LOADING…**

* * *

SUPER LONG CHAPPIE!!!!!! =D

And I managed to stay within my scheduled two-weeks update, to boot. I'm so happy.

Soooooooo… thoughts? Do you think Kuro is right, and Kage wants Rockman for himself? And what about what Blues revealed/remembered about Noah? Was it totally unexpected? I hope so! ;D

Next week, I plan to post a one-shot. I'm just unsure on what to post - het, yaoi, gen, Classic Saga, Exe, X...


	23. Stage 5: Maturation part P

**Title: **"Infecten – stage 5 – _Maturation 16/?_"

**Author:** Nemesi.

**Fandom:** (MMBN)

**Genre: **Romance. Humour.

**Word Count:**2904.

**Characters/Pairings: **Blues/Rockman; Netto, Enzan, Axl mainly. Others mentioned.

**Rating:** PG-13.

**Disclaimer:** , its characters, places and themes belong to Capcom, Shogakukan, ShoPro, TV Tokio, etc.. No copyright infringement is intended.

**Warnings:** Shounen-ai. Un-betaed. Navi-preg (and I claim _ownership_ on this idea). OC.

**A/N:** In this stage, the disease fully develops into a chronic condition.

**Summary: **Something that looked like a three-way date at a first glance, but was actually a business meeting, was taking place in the real world.

* * * * *

**T**aking a glimpse out in the real world, we stumble upon something that looks like a three-way date at a first glance, but was actually a business meeting (honest).

Sitting at a table in the deepest, darkest recess of a cosy café, we find Enzan nursing a mug of scorching hot coffee, and glaring into the brew like the poor thing held all the answers to its problems but wasn't relinquishing them.

Last time we saw him, Enzan was having a video call with his father, and even now he was thinking about that fateful night. Their conversation had stuck in the back of Enzan's head, and was haunting him constantly. His father had denied his words much too vehemently, he hated Blues – the _idea_ of Blues, much too deeply. His reaction must've been trigger by something else, something deeper than Enzan's affection for the Navi, but what exactly? What could've Blues done to him? And who other than Enzan had dared to consider Blues 'family', angering Shuuseki so much?

Enzan had no idea, and no lead to even _start_ trying to figure out what had happened. But he was stubborn, and we know it. So he kept turning the conversation in his mind – pulling it apart, trying to make sense of it, worrying it over like a dog would worry an old bone – and was so deep in thought to be oblivious to any and every thing around him (which explains why his mug of coffee was still full).

To his right, Netto was actively slurping down his (second) cappuccino. Across from them, wrapped up prettily in her pink coat and matching scarf, there was Meiru, seeping thoughtfully from her own mug. A plate of cookies was between them on the table, empty but for some crumbles. Some change was shining in a corner, waiting for the waitress to come pick it up.

Enzan roused himself from his thoughts, checked the time on his PET, and scowled.

"She's forty minutes late."

Meiru's eyes flickered up at him from over the rim of her mug.

"You don't think something happened?" she asked. But as usual when she addressed Enzan, it was Netto who answered. She would've rolled her eyes, hadn't she been so entertained by Netto's continuous, if totally unconscious, attempts to keep Enzan away from her (or was it, keep her away from Enzan? Jury's still out on that).

"Maaya-Oneesan can take care of herself. I'm sure she'll be here soon!" Netto said, with a cheerful note in his voce that didn't sound half-way fake.

Enzan sighed.

"As much as I trust her abilities, I really can't waste any more time here."

He made as if to get up, when a very very pointed glare from Netto stopped him.

"Move another inch, and I'll _bite_ you."

Enzan took a moment to study him.

"…_again_?"

"Again." Netto swallowed another mouthful of cappuccino, not bothering to move his eyes from Enzan's own. "She's been doing a lot to help us; the least we can do is wait for her."

Enzan took a deeper breath, hesitated a moment, then sat back in his chair. Meiru reached over and squeezed his hand, ignoring the sidelong glances Netto darted at their linked fingers.

"I know you hate to be idle," she told Enzan. "But hearing what Maaya-san has to tell us might be more useful than typing the day away at your PC."

Enzan looked away.

"It's just…"

"_Enzan-sama!_"

The object of their speculation speeded up to them in a flutter of strawberry-pink curls and golden glitter. She was balancing a huge bag in one hand, and already tugging off her coat with the other. She somehow managed to launch herself into the seat beside Meiru, remove her coat and pull her sunglasses over her head without losing the bag, and sent Enzan a rueful glance.

"I'm so terribly sorry for the wait! Your _illustrious_ _father –_" notice the dose of irony infused in the word 'illustrious', "– asked me to retype a whole contract from scratch a couple of minutes before my shift was due to end." She pushed a pink curl away from her forehead, glaring as though she could still see Shuuseki before her. "I couldn't refuse, least…"

"…Father overreacted and fired you." Enzan offered her a nod, and the barest quirk of his lips to convey his understanding.

The young woman recognized the warm flicker in Enzan's eyes for what it was, and beamed back at him.

"Thanks for waiting," she told them as she draped her coat on the back of her chair. "Can I offer you any---"

"You said you had something to tell us?" Netto prompted, leaning across the table towards her.

Maaya eagerly parted her lips, hesitated a moment, clamped her mouth shut and cringed, all in quick succession.

"Uhm, well… actually it's not _me_ who wanted to tell you something, as much as…"

"…_me_."

Enzan, Netto and Meiru gave a start, heads whipping up to see that a man had approached their table without the smallest noise. Reaching out, he placed a plate of cookies between them, and tipped his hat chivalry to Meiru.

The girl squinted suspiciously at him, but obediently scooted over when he pulled over a chair from a nearby table, pushing it between hers and Maaya's own. He sat down with a flourish, not bothering to remove his hat or coat, and stuck his chin in the air, as though letting the boys opposite him have a good look at his features.

He was tall, overtly so, and completely dressed in black. His hair, long and haphazardly cut, was the same colour, as was the stubble on his chin. He looked like someone out of a B/W movie, since the only spot of colour on his person seemed to be his eyes: glass-shards that glittered eerily under the rim of his large hat, their colour an indefinable hue between steel-grey and the palest blue.

Maaya cleared her throat in an attempt to dispel the suddenly tense atmosphere.

"Enzan-sama, may I introduce Mr Spider Lee to you?" She said, then paused. "He is your father's… err… _personal detective_," she added helpfully.

Spider Lee rolled his eyes.

"Call me th' way ya want t' call me, woman."

Maaya nodded, not losing a beat.

"He's Shuuseki's bastard of a hound," she amended, face serious.

Spider Lee grinned, and tipped his hat to Enzan.

"Th' pleasure's all mine, brat."

There was a moment of silence, then Maaya offered: "He's the one who told your father about Axl," in case the others hadn't already figured it out.

Netto and Enzan's reaction to that piece of information will be omitted, for the sake of keeping this fic's rating somewhat in check. Suffices it to say that it was loud (and amusing, if Spider Lee's smirk was anything to go by) and attracted a whole deal of unwanted attention.

Thankfully, the scene was cut short by a bellowed: "ENOUGH!" effective not due to its volume, but rather because of _who_ it was that said it.

Starting, Netto and Enzan turned to stare wide eyed at Meiru.

"I swear," she said, shaking her head reproachfully. "Sometimes you two are no better than _children_." She motioned imperiously at the chairs, glaring until the boys complied with her unspoken order.

Enzan did so quietly, and with a look a quiet admiration on his face that didn't go unnoticed by Netto. Actually, that look bothered him so much, but _so much_ that Netto plonked down in his chair with a pout, arms crossed mutinously and head tucked between his shoulder, sulking so bad you could almost _see_ the irritated waves spreading from him.

Enzan wasn't looking at him, so he neither noticed the sulking vibes, nor did he lose the admiring glint in his eyes. But he _did_ reach out and squeeze Netto's hand without turning, and it _did_ work like a charm too, melting the pout into a pleased grin.

Meiru tittered softly at the display, covering her mouth delicately with the tips of her fingers. When she turned towards Spider Lee though, his amused look made her scowl, and she clarified:

"If Maaya trusted you enough to bring you here, then the least we can do is listen to what you have to say." She sat down, silently encouraging Spider Lee to explain himself.

The man in black turned back towards Enzan, eyes boring into the boy's own as he spoke.

"Like th' little lady said, I'm trustworthy enough. B'sides," he jerked a thumb towards Maaya, "She's blackmailin' me."

She beamed.

"Eh, Enzan-sama didn't employ me for my good looks alone."

Spider Lee rolled his eyes.

"…right."

Netto looked doubtful. Enzan merely raised an eyebrow. They turned towards one another in synch, had a sort of wordless conversation, as had become their habit, then seemed to come to an understanding.

Nodding as though to seal an agreement, they turned as one, focusing back on Spider Lee – well, _Enzan_ focused on him. Netto got side tracked by the cookies he'd brought and began to stuff his mouth.

"We'll listen to what you have to say," Enzan allowed, keeping his gaze level with that of his father's henchman.

"We ain't th' ones who took th' Navis," Spider Lee said simply, and Maaya nodded as if to confirm his words.

"It's true. From what I've gathered, your father had been notified about Axl a little more than 4 hours before the abduction. He simply _didn't have the time_ to scheme and put into action such an elaborate plan." She shook her head. "He _can't_ be the culprit."

There was a breathless pause, then Enzan asked, tone suspicious: "My father _didn't_ order the abduction?"

"Negative."

Netto swallowed his mouthful of cookies.

"I don't believe it," he said.

"Feh. He might've wanted ta ask it, at one point. He sure was piss'd that th' Navi of yer little boyfriend here got himself a nice lil' family. Mad like a cow, he was. But he didn't ask me ta get th' kid. And let me tellja: I wouldn't have follow'd through with th' order if he had," he added, after apparently taking a moment to consider.

"Why not?"

Spider Lee shrugged.

"I don't deal with kidnappin' kids."

Netto scowled at him.

"Why, you got kidnapped yourself when you were a child and got a bad memory of the experience?"

Spider Lee sent him a glare than made Netto feel guilty, other than horribly, _horribly_ scared. He shrunk into himself – or rather, into _Enzan_ – biting his bottom lip in mixed shame and fear.

"_No_," Spider Lee retorted, tone clipped. "Damned if I won't do anythin' fer money. But I like ta snuffle 'bout an' that's it. Kidnap an' hurt childra ain't nowhere in me pricelist."

"You mean to say we've been running in circles? Trying to prove my father guilty while there was nothing to find? Are you telling me _we've been wasting our time instead than helping our Navis_?!" Enzan bristled, bolting to his feet like a coiled spring released from pressure.

Netto immediately followed him, leaping out of his chair. Reaching out, he grasped Enzan's wrist, tugging gently on it to gain his attention, and pressed himself against Enzan's side in silent support.

Enzan took a deeper, harsher breath at the contact, then his anger seemed to evaporate from him. His eyes bore onto Spider Lee's with chilling intent, and the man wondered vaguely where exactly had Enzan inherited that impressing, royal-like presence, since his father all but lacked it.

They were silent for long moments, the only sound the quiet click-clack of a waitress's heels as she hurried past. When Enzan spoke, his voice was as cold as his eyes were.

"If you weren't aired to kidnap Axl, then what _was_ you purpose?"

"I toldja already: I deal with info. Yer father got suspic's when ya got all buddy-buddy with yer rivals, and sent me ta check. When I told him 'bout th' Navi brat he got mad. As in _real_ mad. He thought ya'd found th' way ta get Navis to have kids, and were sellin' th' info ta that Yuuichiro guy. And lemme tellja – he was mad that yer Blues had got himself a mate n' a kid, too."

"Predictable," Enzan muttered through his teeth, and allowed both himself and Netto to sit back down. "What else?"

"Whaddaya _think_?" Spider Lee tapped his forehead for emphasis. "He wanted to know how ta make more lil' Navis. But then th' happy family vanish'd, just like that. He thought ya had them hidd'n somewhere, and sent me to snuff 'bout. I found nuttin', and so yer father ask'd fer hot news 'bout ya, ya know. Ta blackmail ya into handing over th' kid an' all th' rest."

Enzan felt like he ought to be appalled, but Netto made such a good job of being irked on behalf of both, he didn't need to react in any way.

One second, Netto almost fell over with shock and had to grip the table to keep his balance; the next, he was on his feet, shouting his outrage to the havens and steaming at the ears.

It was Enzan's turn to put a placating palm on Netto's arm. He herded the other boy back into his seat with surprising ease (born of practice, maybe), then turned towards Spider Lee.

"Do you know who has the Navis?"

"No," Spider Lee answered honestly. "But I know who hasn't got 'hem, and where they aren't." He shrugged. "It's a start, ain't it?"

Enzan nodded, looking pensive.

"I guess."

Ruling out the possibility that the Navis were in Shuuseki's possession, the odd levels of activity that had been registered in the Uranet suddenly gained a whole different meaning. Their opponents could be hiding there, whoever they were; and they had such an advanced technology at hand, they could slip unnoticed under the Net Police's radars.

So thinking, Enzan turned towards Maaya, eyes unsoftening.

"You're absolutely certain we can trust this man?"

The girl nodded.

"300% sure, sir." She seemed to hesitate a moment, chewing on her bottom lip. "He agreed to get some classified info for me. It was a very difficult task, not to mention dangerous. I think that's proof enough of whose side he's taken," she explained, giving a few dismissive flicks of her hand.

Netto narrowed his eyes.

"What info?"

Maaya turned to glance at Spider Lee, who offered a shrug.

"Hey, I sure as Hell ain't gonna tell him. 'S not me he pays ta give him th' bad news."

"What. Info." Enzan repeated, enunciating.

Maaya eeped slightly, jumping in her seat.

"Well, there… err… were some files in your father's office I couldn't access, no matter what I tried. But with Spider's help I managed to snuff out most of them, and…" she paused to fish some papers from her bag, and tipped them towards Enzan. He grabbed the stack from her and began to rifle through it, with Netto pushing against his side to get a look himself.

Whatever he read, it was enough to make all colour drain from Enzan's face. A moment later, Netto gave a shocked cry, and turned huge eyes onto Maaya.

"The ICL virus was developed by IPC's labs?!"

She nodded.

"IPC developed ICL, that's true. But at the beginning, ICL wasn't a virus. It was a bug code, developed to act as a lock on a Navi's main core."

Enzan threw the papers on the table, disgust evident in his face and demeanour.

"ICL was developed for the sole purpose to be implanted into Blues, wasn't it?"

Netto jumped. Meiru gave a soft cry of shock. Maaya nodded, grimly.

"Yes. I'm not sure how or why the bug later morphed into a virus, or how it spread out of the labs. It's a fairly harmless malware, so IPC might have purposefully scattered a few samples around the Net to cover what they'd done to your Navi. I guess we'll never know for sure."

Enzan's eyes flickered up to her, wide but angry.

"_That's_ why Blues is infective, even though his virus scans are clean. His program has been rigged."

"Wait, wait, wait, _tempo_!" Netto shook his head in confusion. "What do you mean Blues's been "_rigged_"? And what would it accomplish?"

"Fer starters," Spider Lee offered, "infected with a sexual disease, yer boyfriend's Navi could ne'er make himself a family. And seein' how much Ijuin Senior hates th' red thing, that hafta be a good reason as any."

"Besides," Maaya cut him off, "ICL acts as a lock, as I said before. It severed a specific area of Blues's memory bank off from the mainframe, and actively prevents it from being accessed."

Enzan looked sharply at her. Beside him, Netto gawked, mouth slack like a goldfish's.

"Are you telling me…?"

"That Blues is amnesiac, yes. They purposefully erased a portion of his memories." She hesitated again, glancing at Spider Lee. The man tipped his hat down, effectively hiding behind it, and Maaya bit her bottom lip before blurting: "Memories that seem connected to your late mother, Enzan-sama."

Meiru gasped, hands flying to cover her mouth. Netto choked on his latest mouthful of cookies and wound up in a coughing fit.

Enzan's mug slipped from his suddenly-weak fingers and went to shatter on the floor, staining the tiles a dark, murky brown.

_"…M-mama*?"_

**- Scene ****16 cleared.**

**NOW LOADING…**

* * *

**Russian for: "Mum"**

Uhm... err... "surprise"? (Before you ask: that'd be cool, but this part about Enzan's mum is totally unrelated to Noah. XD;;; )


	24. Stage 5: Maturation part Q

Super-early chapter.

I'm going to be out of town for a couple weeks, so I wanted to leave you all an early Christmas gift. ;)

Replies are going to be delayed… I'm so SORRY! *bows*

See you in a few days! *waves* ^^/

* * *

**Title: **"Infecten – stage 5 – _Maturation 17/?_"

**Author:** Nemesi.

**Fandom:** (MMBN)

**Genre: **Romance. Humour.

**Word Count:**3736.

**Characters/Pairings: **Blues/Rockman; Kuro, Kage, Axl mainly. Others mentioned.

**Rating:** PG-13.

**Disclaimer:** , its characters, places and themes belong to Capcom, Shogakukan, ShoPro, TV Tokio, etc.. No copyright infringement is intended.

**Warnings:** Shounen-ai. Un-betaed. Navi-preg (and I claim _ownership_ on this idea). OC.

**A/N:** In this stage, the disease fully develops into a chronic condition.

**Sum****mary: **"…another copy?" Rockman uttered, barely a whisper.

* * * * *

**B**lues maintained his position at the console for several minutes, trying to retrieve whatever information he could on the slime, the resurrected Darkloids, and the experiments made deep within Noah's bosom.

Rockman stood faithfully at his side for a little while, then took to wander aimlessly across the vaulted room, needing to dispel his tension. Moving around helped him to clear his head as well, and he finally managed to make sense of all their inexplicable luck.

He'd thought they'd been lured into a trap, but in the end, if they'd made it that deep into the Keep, it was only thanks to Noah's intercession.

_She_ was the one who'd downloaded into Blues those tricks of his.

_She_ was the one who'd inhibited the Security System and impaired the Slimers.

She was…

"She's been covering for us, hasn't she?" Rockman wondered out loud. His voice bounced off eerily from every wall, the words exploding around them like a flight of crows.

Blues offered a nod, then gestured towards the console. Rockman manoeuvred back up to him across the rubble, so that he wouldn't have to raise his voice.

"Found anything?"

"The clutter wasn't originated by just any bug," Blues answered. "Noah was ordered by her operator to submit a report about our capture, and the status of the breeding experiments. She's been delaying those reports, and also actively lying to him – or to _her_. And going against her own programming has caused a conflict in her systems."

"She's buying us time," Rockman translated.

"Yes. And she's using all of her processing power to achieve it."

Rockman stilled.

"She can't last long, can she?"

Blues hesitated.

"I suppose not." Then, after a pause: "How do you know?"

"…call it a hunch."

He tugged on Blues's arm, wordlessly; pulled him to the edge of the platform and pointed with a finger to the other side of the room.

The slime gathered in piles along the walls was beginning to stir, sloshing drunkenly about. Sparks of electricity would run through the vile substance, and then small pale eyes would blink open, moving around in widening circles, like a sleepy child's. Sometimes, a gaping mouth would snap underneath the eyes, and a small claw would emerge from the stickiness, reaching sluggishly forward before melting back into the pile.

Blues narrowed his eyes, and surveyed their surroundings with clinical precision. Slimers were trying to teleport inside the room, but something was warding them off, at least of the moment. However, it would be only a matter of minutes, before they broke through Noah's feeble defences and came swarming in.

Rockman summoned his buster, then posited himself in such a way as to have his back to the console, where there were to Slimers.

"How much time do you need to rid Noah of those horrid modifications?" Other than the obvious reasons, he was quite eager to see the ship back to her original splendour.

Blues looked down and away.

"I can't do that."

Rockman just about stumbled in his shock.

"…what? _No!_"

In a twirl of silver hair, Blues turned around and walked back to the console.

"Besides, she doesn't want me to." He gestured to codes sliding across the monitor, bracing himself for when Rockman would understand.

He did, a moment later. He sucked a harsh breath in, gaping.

"…she started the self-destruction procedure?"

"She was _trying_ to. But she couldn't bypass the protection." Blues paused. "I can."

Rockman started.

"What?"

"I can. I can bypass the protection and allow her to self-destruct as she wants."

"You _can't_!"

"This is what she wants."

"I don't care!" he spun towards the monitor, and spoke as though addressing the ship. "You can't be serious! You can't ask us to _delete_ you!" he pushed his hands to the console in his anger, and the vision of the frail gentle granny came back to him, sighing and smiling in the hazy distance.

"You… you don't _deserve_ to die!" he struggled when Blues tried to pull him back. "You did nothing bad! It was_… it was whoever kidnapped you that forced you to make those horrible experiments_!" The image faltered, scratched and hairy like an old videotape, and Blues grabbed him again, not trying to force him away now, as much as keeping him upright. "You don't…" He struggled, grappled for both words and breath, then hung his head, feeling aghast.

Gently, Blues pulled him back to his chest, pushed their cheeks together, and spoke to him in soothing, hushed tones.

"It's was she wants."

"It's not right."

"_It's was she wants."_

"I don't care. It's still not right."

"Rock…"

"She…"

"…she wants salvation. She wants respite. Who are we to deny her?" Rockman bit his bottom lip, but didn't said anything. "Rock, sometimes death is a better choice than life."

"Death is _never_ better than life!"

"But a life of agony? How do you think she feels, living the life of a slave? Breeding those horrible creatures, resurrecting fallen Navis to experiment on them, kidnapping children, working against her own will at some plan of conquest and destruction?"

Rockman glanced over his shoulder, met Blues's eyes through the visor and felt himself crumble.

"I wish we could do more," he relented, reaching out to slid a finger down the monitor.

"We're doing what we can. What she _wants_ us to do. We must trust it'll be enough."

He didn't dare suggest there was a backup copy of her program, somewhere, because he couldn't believe it was so simple.

Rockman dropped his hand, peered at his mate again.

"How much time do you need to do it?"

Blues pulled away.

"Not much. But I was trying to find more data about whoever kidnapped us, and what they're trying to achieve here."

Rockman nodded, just once, shoulders stiff with tension. Then twirled around to face their enemies.

"…I'll buy you time."

**B**ut as usual when Net-battling was concerned, it was easier said than done.

It didn't take long for the Slimers to start materializing inside the vaulted room. But Rockman refused, in all conscience, to attack the slimy creatures when they were only half-formed and helpless.

Which meant that when they finally emerged from their oily cradles, they swarmed on him, like angry bees, and he had to fend them off all at once.

He deleted four, five, _seven_ with a cacophony of charged shots, and before he had time to take breath another eight, ten, _fourteen _were leaping at him from all sides.

Blues did what he could to help, deleting his own share every now and then. But linked as he was to the console his movements were limited, and he suffered more damage that he would care to admit.

Tentacles of slime crawled up his legs; frost spread through his armour, and his breath misted about his cheeks. His energy waned and his vision swam, as errors of all kinds flashed behind the dark cover of his visor, but he didn't stop working for even a second.

He was hard-pressed to finish his task – he wanted to free Noah, wanted to leave that place, wanted to go help Rock before something happened to him.

If he didn't make haste, they might even be found by Noah's operator and locked back in cell, with no hope to escape this time. Even worse than that, Noah was losing what frail control she ever had on the Security System: when Rockman had first leapt from the platform, the Slimers needed several moments to go past Noah's protection and emerge completely from the slime. And those few that succeeded were dull and sluggish.

But now, more and more Slimers managed to step out of the piles of slime, and they were angry, frenzied, snapping their pointy little fangs at Rockman, round eyes flashing yellow in the low light.

Rockman barely dodged a squishy claw as it tried to grab him, tripped backwards and crashed against Blues, who held him to his chest with one arm, and slashed the slimy little creature with the other.

Rockman took a moment to regain breath, then leaped, pushing against Blues to gain leverage, firing a volley of shots at the closest line of Slimers.

Blues lashed out with his sword-arm, slashing another half-dozen Slimers, and focused back on his task. Much to his own chagrin, Noah's operator had used cipher to secure his files. With their limited time-reserves, Blues couldn't hope to decrypt even one tenth of the data stored in Noah's databanks.

What could he do to…?

Taking a chance, Blues started to download what that data he could fit in his systems. He knew Enzan-sama and Hikari-hakase would be able to decipher the code, if only he managed to bring it back.

He paused – a fraction of a second suspension – before the older data, the logs that dated back to when Noah was a Searching Unit, and then forced himself to ignore them and move on.

By now, he was sure that a portion of his past had been deleted from his memory. It had always troubled him, that his programmer had left no signature inside him, and that he had been given no designation number (something required of all Navis, be they custom-made or mass-produced puppets from a factory).

In time, Blues had filed those happenstances away as inconsequential. He was far superior than your average Navi. He was stronger, faster, more resilient. What did it matter, that he lacked a _name_? That _his own father_ hadn't cared to give it to him? He didn't – he _wouldn't_ care about that.

Enzan-sama had given him a new one, and that was all he ever needed. No digital signature, no string of numbers could ever rival that precious first memory he had, the memory of that little, chubby-cheeked cherub gazing at him from the other side of the PET screen with wide blue eyes, flushing in delight as he declared that his Navi's name was going to be _Blues_.

But now, it turned out that he wasn't just a different Navi, but_ a Navi with a secret_. An incomplete being, with an incomplete memory.

He ached to download more, to understand more, learn more. About himself, his name, his programmer, as well as Noah, his _sibling_.

But he had no time.

No time _at all._

He opened the path for Noah to activate the self-destruction, wrenched himself away from the console almost violently, and rid himself of the Slimers crowding him by releasing a sudden burst of energy.

He swivelled on his heels the moment he was free, and dove from the platform with a savage cry, not needing to see it to know that Rock needed him, needed him _now_.

He grabbed Rockman's elbow a moment before he disappeared within a glob of slime, hauled him up and out even as he hacked at the creatures surrounding them with his sword.

"Rock! Wake up, Rock! _Rock_!"

Rockman groaned, his breath misting into little white clouds before his mouth, and tried to stand. He swayed, stumbling, and his weight caused Blues to drop on the floor on one knee beside him.

Ever-alert, the Slimers came together all of a sudden, their little dark bodies rearing up in one single wave, impossibly huge, and rushed at the helpless Navis with a triumphant screech.

Blues gritted his teeth, cocooned himself around Rockman, secured his arms tight around his blue mate, tucking Rock's head under his chin and in the split-second that heralded the final crash he…

"Dark cannon!"

"Shadow slice!"

"SOOOO~OOOONIIIIIIC _BOOOOOOOOOOOM_!!"

There was a sudden, terrible squall, an almost sickening wet sound, followed by an unearthly shriek.

Even behind the shield of his visor and his closed eyelids, Blues saw an explosion of light. When he looked up, he saw that the Slimers were gone, and all that remained of them was a fine layer of slime on the floor, a small ocean that kept rolling and swelling as drops of oily slime fell from above like rain.

"…show off, I say. Total. Show. _Off_."

Startled out of his awe, Blues swivelled his head up and around towards the source of the voice.

There on a ledge not too far from them, he saw Axl bouncing about in glee, flanked by the ominous figures of two very familiar Darkloids.

Rockman gripped Blues's arm as they rose to their feet, barely able to believe what he was seeing – his son… his own, only _son_ and the darkest part of his soul, that which he thought dead and buried, were in front of his eyes, _together_.

"Daddy! Papa!" Axl stopped his ©Skip, Hop 'n' Bounce Dance of Joy to lean over and wave his buster – his huge, huge, _HUGE_, hi-tech buster, we might add – in greeting at his parents. Grinning, he jumped off the ledge and began to strike cool poses, making "Ah!" sounds at the appropriate times (think Power Rangers, and you'll have it). The Darkloids leaped after him, landing a few feet away from their Originals.

For a moment, all was still, all was silence.

Then Rockman took a tentative step forward, hovered, halted. His Darkloid persona stood before him like a distorted mirror image, eerie red eyes aglow like embers, bloodless lips stretched into a look of malicious intent. Beside him, Blues's own Darkloid stood poised like a set of armour, terrifying and beautiful at once.

Suddenly, Rockman felt like ants were crawling up and down his spine, and something inside of his chest tightened into a heavy knot.

"…another copy?" he uttered, barely a whisper.

Kuro's face immediately contorted in anger.

"_Copy_?!" he snarled, retracting his buster and summoning his dark aura. Tendrils of shadow gathered around him, flowing and whispering like filaments of spidersilk in the wind. "Don't you _dare_ to compare _me_ to the likes of _you_!"

He made as if to stride forward, but Kage raised one arm and put a restraining hand on his shoulder.

"Now now, there's no need to be unpleasant."

The purple Darkloid gulped down a shuddering breath, then forcibly shrugged the hand off, turning away. Kage flashed him a smirk, then turned towards his own Original.

Rockman and Blues stiffened.

The Darkloid's other hand was resting almost casually on Axl's shoulder, which didn't go unnoticed by either of them. The subtle, ever-gentle pressure kept the child away from them and well in the line of fire, were they to attack.

They were at an impasse; and worst of all, _their opponents had the upper hand_.

Oblivious, Axl looked at his parents like a waggling puppy, all huge eyes and flushed cheeks, positively gleaming with pride.

"Did you see that? Did you see that? Did you see that? Did you _see _that???" A squeal. "I did it! I did it! I totally _did it_! I. DID. IT! I. DID. IT! I. DID…"

"They aren't blind, Kitten," Kuro snapped. He glanced over his shoulder at Rockman, upper lip curling into a hateful grimace. "Brainless _yes_, blind not. They saw that. Shut up."

"I shall have to agree with him, Little One," Kage said, sensibly enough. "It would have been rather hard for them to miss your performance."

He touched the child's cheek thoughtfully, then slowly but carefully pushed him forward and away from himself. Taking his clue, Axl sprang forth, arms spread and making sounds like an airplane. He circled his parents, then leaped and caught his Daddy's legs, burying his face in the oh!so!missed cascade of silver hair, giggling softly.

Immediately, Blues cupped the back Axl's head, discreetly checking the child over for damage. His brows furrowed when he noticed how much the little fox had grown in that small spawn of time, but he made no mention of it. Instead, he glanced back up at his Darkloid, who stood with his arms crossed and his mouth quirked at the edge.

Brushing aside his instinctual mistrust, Blues could understand what his Darkloid was suggesting: he'd made a pace offering, wordless but unmistakable. And now he stood waiting for them to accept the bargain.

Blues took a step forward, gently pushing Axl with him. As he moved, he could feel Dark Soul Rockman's eyes on him, wide and frenzied with some deeply-buried emotion.

His own Darkloid made no move until they were face to face. Only then did he bow his head, slightly and slowly; a gesture of greeting that Blues reciprocated with equal poise.

"You seem rather unsurprised to see us", Kage remarked smoothly.

"This place was designed to revive Dark Navis," Blues answered, no less collected. "Meeting here the two most powerful Darkloids ever created was only to be expected."

Kage pulled his lips back in a feral smile.

"What can I say? We were always were quite a notch above the rest."

"That I can't deny," Blues dipped his head.

"So, what did I heard about fakes? They managed to replicate Rockman?"

Blues darted a glance to his mate. When he made to turn, his eyes met Dark Soul Rockman's own, and he was forced into stillness.

The purple Darkloid was so different from the fake he'd met in the cell. So much more _real_.

It was all in the eyes, so identical and yet so completely unlike Rockman's own. They were burning on him with painful intensity, something different from the venomous gaze he'd pinned Rockman with before, but no less fierce. Pleading and demanding, heated and cold at the same time, confident but _hurt_, hurting horribly.

Blues's instinct was screaming at him to spare the Darkloid a smile or a touch, and he had to forcibly remind himself to look away.

"Not quite," he said, facing forward once more.

Kage quirked an eyebrow behind the visor, something which, by some mysterious rule of the Universe we aren't going to question, Blues saw and reciprocated.

"He wasn't as powerful?"

"Hardly."

"Not as _pretty_?" with a bit of a leer that Blues countered with a deadpan:

"_Frail and needy_."

Kage winced.

"How horribly inaccurate."

Blues nodded once, then his hand tightened behind Axl's head, pulling the child closer. There was a moment of silence, but when Blues spoke, his voice was poised, his words calculated and devoid of emotion.

"I'm indebted with you."

He needn't add anything more. Kage's fangs gleamed as the smirk on his face widened into a look of wicked satisfaction.

"Honour dictates you allow me a reward."

"What kind of reward?"

"Oh, nothing too hard to get," he dismissed the subject with a flick of his hand. "Data, if you were wondering. But why don't we define the details once we're out of here?"

If Blues was surprised, he didn't show it. Kuro, on the other hand, swivelled on the other Darkloid with wide, questioning eyes. And with "questioning" I mean that he was silently asking Kage if he'd lost what little sanity he ever had. Wasn't this the point where he requested to have Rockman as his harem slave? What friggin' data was he talking about?!

However, as disconcerted as Kuro looked, it was Rockman the one to give voice to any misgivings.

"No way! You will say what you have to say here and now!" he demanded through clenched teeth.

Kuro rounded on him, eyes battle-thirsty and voice a whiplash of fury.

"Why don't you shut up for a change? Is that any way to welcome reinforcements?"

Rockman glowered at him.

"I don't recall asking for _your_ help."

"Well, _my_ help is all you're going to get," he snapped. "So get used to it quickly, Pebble."

Axl pressed both hands to his mouth to stifle a giggle. Startled out of his rage, Kuro darted the child a glance. Then he focused back on his Original, mouth parted as though he wanted to say something, though in the end he opted for a sullen, rather embarrassed silence instead.

Rockman looked between his Darkloid and his son with narrowed eyes.

"…_pebble_?" he managed, flushing quite red about the cheeks (whether from rage or mortification it's hard to guess).

Unbeknownst to him, earlier that day Axl had proved without a doubt he was provided with a one-track mind, which refused to be derailed once it had set its course, and its course had been to get Kuro-Ojichan to explain what a "bottom" was in a pair of lovers, which Kuro _couldn't_ do, since he _did_ have some degree of decency, contrary to popular belief. And then Kage had added his infuriating self to the mix, providing ammo for Axl by suggesting he asked Kuro what an "uke" was, and what a "seme" was, and what "dominance" was for that matter, so Kuro had had to try and distract the child at the best of his abilities, and all this babble is meant to add up to the fact that he'd had to find another epithet for Rockman, quick, and he obviously didn't work well under pressure.

At all.

"What?" Kuro contended hotly, hoping his face wasn't matching Rockman's own in colour. "I can hardly call you _boulder_, can I?" He made a show of seizing Rockman up and down with a long look, and leered. "You midget."

Rockman bristled.

"You're my _copy_! You are as tall as I am!"

Kuro bristled right back at him.

"I'm _nothing_ like you!" he seethed, readying himself to draw blood.

Kage took that as his cue. He bowed at the waist towards Blues and Axl, glided over to Kuro, bent, hoisted the screeching purple Navi over his shoulder and walked back up to Blues, unmindful of the angry fists hammering his back.

"I do believe we are in a hurry?"

Blues nodded.

"Yes. The ship might blow up at any moment."

Kuro had barely enough time to emerge from over Kage's back and ask: "what ship?" that the floor began to tremble underneath them. The Navis had a hard time staying upright in that sea of slime, a task that was further complicated when ceiling and walls started to splinter, and rubble to rain on them from above.

Axl sought refuge in his Papa's arms, and Rockman cocooned his body around the child's, shielding him as best as he could.

"What going on?! This isn't the self-destruction system!" he hollered over the horrible noise.

Blues shook his head.

"No, it's not! It feels like…"

_"…InTRudErSssSs…"_

…like you've run out of luck, Blues. Hey, it was bound to happen, sooner or later.

**- Scene ****17 cleared.**

**NOW LOADING…**

* * *

_The __height jibe comes from the fact that in my art Rock is way shorter than Blues (or is it Blues is way taller than Rock?). Anyway, my Rock is very… compact. Perfectly proportioned, but hardly what you'd call a _tall_ boy. XD;;;;_

_The first draft of this chapter was *WAY* different: it was totally full of crack!humor. But I've developed Kage and Kuro's personalities way too much by now, and I couldn't resist making the encounter a little more sober._

_If you, by any chance, want read that other version, I can see if I've still got it in the scraps, and upload it as a bonus chapter. But I've gotta check, first. :)_


	25. Stage 5: Outtakes

_Hello-hello! :D_

_I'm finally back in town. How were you Holidays? I hope you all had fun, and wish you much joy in this just-begun year! :D_

_Here's a small something, just for the lulz. I've got enough notes for another… *checks* three or so LENGHTY chapters, and then… we'll see. The ending of this story approaches fast, though. Thanks to all who stayed with me during this journey! ;D_

* * *

_**~*~ From Necchan's scrapbook – Chapter 1**__**5 deleted scene, or "Get on your knees and thank the author for changing her mind, Rock" ~*~**_

Rockman started, stiffening and trying to hide his discomfort at once. He realize, blearily, that the only reason Blues wasn't looking at him, was because he knew he'd lose his composure and need time to regain it.

"…_you_ can't sense them, just as they can't sense _us_," Rockman concluded breathlessly.

Blues went still for a moment, then nodded, briskly. He summoned his sword, and sliced the shadows with his glowing blade, silently testing its efficiency.

At his signal, Rock summoned his buster. His eyes unfocused as he gave his systems a once-over.

"Everything seems a-ok," he offered after a minute.

"Energy reserves?"

Rockman chewed on his bottom lip.

"A little lower than I'd like, but still over 70%. No wait. Over 80%." He paused. "No, it's below that. Funny, though. For a moment, I…"

"Damage report?"

Rock winced.

"I s-sustained n-no d-damage."

Blues looked nonplussed.

"Of course," he paused. "_Damage report_," he ordered.

"…I've got a migraine…?"

"_Rock_…"

Afore mentioned Navi winced.

"Uhm. I might have a little data-leak…"

"Define 'data leak', Rock."

"Okay, okay!" he threw his hands in the air. "There's something wrong with the energy levels. I didn't recharge fully, and I'm wasting more energy that I should be. There."

Blues frowned.

"That's odd. Is there anything wrong with your core?"

"No, but…"

"But?"

"Fine motor skills are a bit slow."

"Did you hurt your eyes?"

Rockman flexed his fingers experimentally.

"No, I'm just… slow. You know?"

"…Rock."

"Mh?" Rockman blinked up at his mate's suddenly tense form.

"You affect local pain, fluctuating power levels, energy leak, off-tune coordination" he listed, slowly.

Rockman blanched, sucking a harsh, shocked breath.

"…you aren't with child again, are you?"

* * *

_**~*~ From Necchan's scrapbook – Chapter 17 bloopers**__**, or "How it REALLY went" ~*~**_

Axl grinned, jumped off the ledge and began to strike cool poses, doing "Ah!" sounds at the appropriate times. The Darkloids leaped after him, landing a few feet away from their Originals.

Rockman took a tentative step forward, then paused. His Darkloid persona stood before him like the worst of his nightmares, eerie red eyes aglow like embers, bloodless lips curled back in a grin that made Rockman's insides coil in helpless dismay. Beside the horrible shadow, Blues's own Darkloid stood poised like a set of armour, terrifying and beautiful at once.

He gasped, core thundering inside his ears.

"Other… _fakes_?"

Beat.

Explosion.

"I'll give you fake you sonnuvaà&£$ò#§&ù$*!!!"

From Kuro. Obviously.

As Hell broke loose between the two Rockmans, Kage turned coolly towards Blues, face politely interested.

"You met your replicas?"

"Rather poor ones," Blues answered with a nod.

Kage pulled his lips back with a smirk.

"Well, I _did_ try to send over as many fake data as I could as they sampled me."

"So it was your doing." Blues dipped his head. "You have my appreciation."

Kage dismissed the thanks.

"Not that they could replicate you by cloning your Darkloid in the first place. I guess Rockman's fake was a defective as your own?"

"Even more so, I'd say."

"Aaah… well, I don't suppose Kuro sat still to get the data sampled."

Blues shook his head.

"Believe me, that fake was anything _but_ Dark Rockman. Or Rockman himself."

Kage quirked an eyebrow behind the visor, something which, by some mysterious rule of the Universe we aren't going to question, Blues saw.

"Weak?" Kage questioned.

"_Girly_."

"Oh."

"Exactly."

Kage's eye roved down Kuro's slim, supple body.

"No way that hot little thing could be mistaken for a girl. Although I must admit, that _bum_…"

**NECCHAN: **_**CUUUU~UUUT!!! **_**Damn, it, Kage… keep those comments to yourself, will you?! *rubs forehead* **

**KAGE: Well, what else am I supposed to remark upon?**

**BLUES****: *drily* That dirty mouth?**

**KAGE****: *shrugs* It's part of his charm.**

**BLUES: I'm sure.**

**NECCHAN: Please. You two. *pointed glare* Okay, back to position… ready… and… TAKE 2…!**

Blues crossed his arms.

"Rockmans are a force to reckon with, aren't they?" he mused. Kage made a sound in the back of his throat, and mirrored Blues's position.

"My choice of words would've been "a pain" to reckon with."

Blue's mouth quirked up at the corner.

"One we Blues can't do without, it seems."

"What, and get parted from that hot little body? Not in my lifetime."

**NECCHAN: **_**CUUUU~UUUT!!! *shriek* **_**Ka-ge! What did I say about that kind of comments?**

**KAGE: *innocently* That they're totally legit and Kuro is the hottest thing in town? *wicked grin***

**NECCHAN: *slaps forehead* *rubs face* Back from the beginning, this time. TAKE 3!!!**

**(…and beware of a little, possibly spoiling thing I'm still debating whether to use or not!)**

Axl grinned, jumped off the ledge and began to strike cool poses, doing "Ah!" sounds at the appropriate times. The Darkloids leaped after him, landing a few feet away from their Originals.

Rockman took a tentative step forward, then paused. His Darkloid persona stood before him like the worst of his nightmares, eerie red eyes aglow like embers, bloodless lips curled back in a grin that made Rockman's insides coil in helpless dismay. Beside the horrible shadow, Blues's own Darkloid stood poised like a set of armour, terrifying and beautiful at once.

"…other fakes?" Rockman uttered, barely a whisper.

So _not_ the right thing to say.

Kuro let out an hear-splitting screech, retracted his buster and marched up to Rockman, jabbing a finger in his chest.

"Just who are you calling a pathetic little copy of yourself who hasn't got an ounce of your power?!"

…he _did_ have a tendency to dramatize whenever his Original was concerned. But he was working on it, promise.

Rockman put his hands on his hips in a terribly Roll-like fashion (which might seem a little OC, but works perfectly well to provide us with the tension-breaker we so needed).

"You! You're a copy! And a horrible one at that!"

"I'll give you copy, you à&£$ò#§&ù$*!!!"

"ME?!"

"Yes, you!"

"I'll give you—!"

"Come get—!"

Kage glided coolly past them and towards Blues, who seemed as unfazed as him by the catfight breaking not a feet away from them.

"You met your replicas?" Kage inquired smoothly as he came to stand beside his Original.

Axl wooshed after him, arms spread and making sounds like an airplane. He circled his Daddy twice, then leaped and caught his leg, burying his face in the oh!so!missed cascade of silver hair, giggling softly.

"Rather poor ones," Blues answered, cupping the back of Axl's head, discreetly checking him over for damage. His brows furrowed when he noticed how much the little fox had grown in that small spawn of time, but he made no mention of it.

Kage pulled his lips back in a smirk.

"Well, I _did_ try to send over as many fake data as I could as they sampled me."

"So their defectiveness was your doing," Blues dipped his head in thanks. Even if he couldn't explain why Axl was keeping company with them, the presence of their Darkloid personas was hardly surprising. The Keep had been used to revive Navis who wielded Dark Power. It only made sense that the two most powerful of all had been among the resurrected. "You have my appreciation."

Kage dismissed the thanks.

"Not that they could replicate you by cloning your shadow in the first place. I guess Rockman's fake was as defective as your own?"

Blues darted a glance to were his mate and his Darkloid persona were about to claw each other's eyes off, and shook his head.

"Even more so, I'd say."

"Aaah… well, I don't suppose Kuro sat still to get the data sampled."

"Believe me, that fake was anything _but_ Dark Soul Rockman," he offered, amazed despite himself when a rather creative cuss-word – excuse me: cuss _phrase_ of Kuro's reached his ears. "Or Rockman himself."

Kage quirked an eyebrow behind the visor, something which, by some mysterious rule of the Universe we aren't going to question, Blues saw and reciprocated.

"Not as powerful?" Kage questioned.

"Hardly."

"Not as _pretty_?" with a bit of a leer that Blues countered with a deadpan:

"_Frail and needy_."

Kage winced.

"How horribly inaccurate."

Blues nodded once, then his hand tightened behind Axl's head, pulling the child closer to him.

"I think I owe you my thanks for something else, too."

Blues needn't add anything more. Kage's mouth split into a smirk, showing the glitter of white, pointy fangs.

"Then I might have to request a proper reward."

"What kind of reward?"

"Data." He turned fully to watch Kuro as he hissed at Rockman, eyes flashing and back arched like a sinewy cat. "On how I can have what you have. How I can do what you did."

If Blues was surprised, he didn't show it.

"You want your own child?"

"I want _him_ to have my child."

Blues made an appropriate thoughtful sound, then fell back into silence. If he understood the signs correctly, love _might_ be a part of the equation — but it surely wasn't the only reason why Dark Blues wanted Dark Soul Rockman to bear his child. However, he refrained from voicing his misgivings. That was hardly the time or place, was it?

Belatedly, he noticed that the catfight between the two Rockmans had quietened down a whole deal lot. Gone were the threatening hand-gestures, in favour of a who-moves-first-loses glaring contest. Even their voices had lowered from screeches to suave, dangerous whispers.

"Is that any way to welcome the reinforcement, Pebble?" Kuro asked after two whole minutes of stalling, voice sickeningly sweet. Rockman narrowed his eyes.

"…_pebble_?"

Yes, he did took more notice of the insulting nickname, rather than the fact that his Darkloid persona claimed to be there to help him. Not his fault. It's in the script.

Kuro waved his hand as though to dismiss the issue altogether.

"Rock, stone, pebble… it's all the same."

"It's _not_ the same!"

Kuro pursed his lips.

"Don't get started on me. I had to find a new epithet quick and it turned out I don't work well under pressure."

He wasn't about to tell Rockman about his slip, and how Axl had pestered him, wanting to know what a bottom was, and what a uke was, and what a seme was (Kage had taken it on his infuriating self to feed the child's curiosity with as many yaoi-related words as he could think of).

Long story made short, Kuro had _had_ to distract the child somehow.

And involving him in a game of let's-find-Papa-a-new-nickname had seemingly done the trick.

"Besides," Kuro concluded smugly, "I can hardly call you _boulder_." He made a show of seizing Rockman up and down with a long look. "You midget."

Rockman bristled.

"You're as tall as I am!"

Kuro bristled right back at him.

"Who did you call your pint-sized mirror image that's not worthy to polish your buster?!" he screeched, readying himself to draw blood.

Kage took that as his cue. He bowed at the waist towards Blues and Axl, glided over to Kuro, bent, hoisted the screeching purple Navi over his shoulder and walked back up to Blues, unmindful of the tiny fists hammering his back.

"I do believe we are in a hurry?"

Blues nodded.

"Yes. The ship might blow up at any moment."

Kuro had barely enough time to emerge from over Kage's back and ask: "what ship?" that the floor began to tremble underneath them. The Navis had a hard time staying upright, a task that was further complicated when the walls splintered, and debris started to rain on them from above.

Axl sought refuge in his Papa's arms, and Rockman bent over the child, shielding him as best as he could.

"What going on?! This isn't the self-destruction system!" he hollered over the horrible noise.

Blues shook his head.

"No, it's not! It feels like…"

_"…InTRudErZzzZz…"_

…like you've all run out of luck, Blues. Hey, it was bound to happen, sooner or later.

_**VILLAIN TO BE REVEALED IN THE NEXT CHAPTER: I had a thick German accent?**_

_**NECCHAN: *shrugs* Hey, it fit. All evil villains have it.**_

_**VILLAIN TO BE REVEALED IN THE NEXT CHAPTER: I'm glad you changed your mind.**_

**_NECCHAN: You owe me, pal._**

_**KURO: *advances towards Kage* *cracks knuckles* Who did you call 'pretty little thing with a bum to die for'?**_

**_KAGE: ...did I actually say that out loud...?_**

**_KURO'S KNUCKLES: *make a menacing cracking sound*_**

**_

* * *

_**

**_~*~End of the lulz.~*~_**

**_See you soon with the real update! :D_**


	26. Stage 5: Maturation part R

**Title: **"Infecten – stage 5 – _Maturation 18/?_"

**Author:** Nemesi.

** Fandom:** (MMBN)

** Genre: **Romance. Humour.

** Word Count:**3751.

** Characters/Pairings: **Blues/Rockman; Netto, Enzan, Axl mainly. Others mentioned.

** Rating:** PG-13.

** Disclaimer:** , its characters, places and themes belong to Capcom, Shogakukan, ShoPro, TV Tokio, etc.. No copyright infringement is intended.

** Warnings:** Shounen-ai. Un-betaed. Navi-preg (and I claim _ownership_ on this idea). OC.

** A/N:** In this stage, the disease fully develops into a chronic condition.

** Summary: **_THE _culpritfinally made himself known.

* * * * *

**I**t's not without emotion that we announce that the One Behind It All, the person who'd turned Noah into Kyuraweil, injected her with slime, invented the Slimers, resurrected Kage and Kuro, made experiments on the Darkloids, kidnapped Axl, Rockman and Blues … I think I lost my track here… anyway! _THE _culpritfinally made himself known.

The farthest wall from the Navis split neatly in two, and the halves began to slid apart, causing a subtle tremor to run through the room and more debris to drop from above.

The cavity so revealed was dark at first: a yawning hole totally devoid of light, but buzzing and crawling like a bug-nest.

Then a faint, greenish flame appeared, and within the light there was a stone or artefact: a pulsing little core from which the horrible hissing voice had originated.

That flaming stone brightened slowly, and each pulsation of light attracted more and more slime towards the cavity, like a magnet would attract metal.

Soon, waves and rivulets of slime heaped around the small, airborne core, slowly working themselves into the shape of an enormous Head. It was bald, with elongated, wicked features. There was no neck or body to support it: it floated among the shadows, green-tinted and evil.

As the Navis watched, the eyes opened, the mouth thinned and split into a cruel leer. Then the massive jaws worked, and a snake-like voice resonated through their heads, crackling like the transmission of an off-tuned radio.

"It wOulD seEm thAt mY rUNaWay SubjEctS arE bACk," the Head said, surveying the Darkloids with a wicked glint in its glass-like eyes.

The five Navis were spread before the Head like the fingers of a splayed hand: Axl in the middle, further away from the monstrosity; Blues and Kage a little ahead of the child, each on either side of him, with Rockman and Kuro on the forefront, busters armed and ready to fire.

Unsurprisingly, the first to break the silence was Kuro.

"So you're the one who runs this place, your Headship?" Kuro cocked his hip, tapping his buster against his leg as if to inconspicuously inform the newcomer that he'd have no qualms about filling his face with burning plasma. "Nice cosy factory you've got here. Maybe too heavy on the decorations, but there's only so much one can ask of a Giant Head, is there?"

The Head laughed, eyes crinkled at the corners, its look not unlike that of an indulging grandpa witnessing the antics of a bunch of silly children.

"YOu daRe aDrEss _mE_, yOu faIlEd SpeCimEN?"

"I address whomever I want, thankyouverymuch."

Rockman darted a warning glance at his Darkloid, then took a step towards the Head.

"Who are you?"

"MAsTer Veil iS tHe nAMe i GO bY, bReedEr nAVi."

Rockman stiffened momentarily at the epithet. Blues set his jaw; he exhaled loudly, making an effort to restrain himself.

The Head ignored both Navis, eyes widening as they alighted on Axl.

"Ah, bUt what dO we have hEre? The new-gen little navi HiMsElf!"

Axl looked about in panic for a second or two, wondering if the Head was referring to him for real. When realization sank, his eyes grew wide, while Axl himself, by rules of conservation of mass, went small.

Rockman and Kuro moved as one, taking each a sideway step to stand between Axl and the massive Head. Behind them, Kage and Blues unsheathed their swords, dropping into identical but mirrored fighting stances on either side of the child.

"Hello THere, digital cHild," said the Head, and its voice was getting clearer by the second.

"Hel-uhm-lo. Sir." Axl hastily attached the respectful title at the end, as he'd been taught when talking with an adult.

"I hEard yoUr name is _Axl_?"

"Err… _yeah_."

"Axl. Axl. Would you lIke to play a gAme with me, littlE Axl?"

"Don't you bloody hell _consider_ it!" Kuro growled, releasing a quick volley of charged shots. The globes of burning plasma impacted with their target with deadly precision, but were swallowed by the slime as though they were an Halloween treat.

Veil's eyes flashed towards Kuro, aglow with an eerie, sickly-green flame. The pointy teeth gnashed together with a grinding noise.

Immediately, several slim, squishy tentacles, dark and dripping with grease emerged from the pool of slime sloshing underneath the giant Head. They stretched up like begging fingers, writhing like tormented souls.

"Silence! I hAve no intErest in you, failed one!"

Kuro pulled back his lips in a snarl, but before he could do anything, anything _at all,_ there was another green flash in those wide, terrifying eyes, a spark like sudden thunder. One of the slimmest tentacles tensed, reaching up straighter, like the string of violin – _then crackled towards Kuro like an immense whip._

It was so fast, the Darkloid couldn't have dodged it if he'd tried. But ultimately, it was for the best than he didn't move: the tentacle sailed past his head, lodged itself into the wall, deep within a spider-web of cracks, and whished back at the speed of light.

"I was addressing the little One, so kindly _shut up_," the Head commanded.

Slowly, Kuro became aware of the trail of pixels brimming along his cheek, trickling down like blood. Only a second later did he actually feel the sting of the cut.

Unfazed and a little wondering, he reached out with his tongue to gather the shimmering pixels on the tip and swallow them with a flourish. He grinned wolfishly to Veil, a sort of madcap delight in his wide eyes, but made no move to counter the attack.

Behind him, Kage tensed, eyes zeroing in on the cut on Kuro's cheek. On the outside, he looked as collected as ever; but inside he was seething. Silently, he made a mental note to himself, which (after the right amount of censorship was applied to it) sounded more or less along the lines of: I _shall_ crush that green skull open, paint the walls with its entrails and wear whatever remains of it as a scarf.

It was the closest he'd ever come to admit that he wanted to take care of Kuro, which was almost sweet, if you took out the death-treat, the murderous glare, and the violent burst of Kage's aura as he turned to watch Veil's head.

Satisfied with the sudden silence, Veil turned back towards Axl, slowly. He gazed at the round-eyed child for a moment or two, and then his lips stretched wide into a condescending smile.

Rockman slid one step closer to his Darkloid, and even Blues and Kage inconspicuously closed ranks, coming closer to Axl. For his part, the child was trying his best to gulp down his sudden fear. The adults were looking all sorts of cool, standing unafraid and battle-ready before the Giant Head of Doom, and Axl didn't want to disappoint them and act like a scaredy-cat. He swallowed, feeling his the weight on chest diminish a little, and straightened his back.

"Axl?" Veil asked, voice booming like thunder.

_I didn't jump I didn't jump I did SO NOT jump_ _"…y-yes?"_ _and I didn't stutter!_

"Tell me, wouldn't you like to know why you and your friends have been brought here?"

Axl blinked. Well, that wasn't what he was expecting. At all. He glanced around at the other Navis, then faced the giant head once more.

"I think I'd like that, sir," he said politely.

The Head dipped down in a sort of cosmic nod, a sombre gesture that was ruined when the Head bared his teeth in a feral grin.

"You, dear thing, are here to help me _destroy the_ _Cyberworld_."

Axl blinked.

"That makes sense. _Why_?"

Blues glanced at his son, unable to decipher his mild reaction. Kage also spared the child a glance, needing to make sure that Axl was being brave, and not his usual gullible self. At a closer inspection, the child was shaking quietly, though his voice had sounded nothing but steady. The two red Navis looked at each other, something subtle passing between them, then turned as one towards Veil as he answered:

"Because I command it, child."

"But," Axl whined. "_Why_? I mean, I _like_ the Cyberworld. It's full of nice people everywhere. It sparkles with more colours that I can name, and there are so many sounds, some pretty like laughter and some scary but cool like electrical storms. If there wasn't a Cyberworld, I couldn't have met Papa and Daddy and Roll-Oneesan and all my Ojichan. And that would've made me sad, because I love them, and they love me. So why do you want to destroy the Cyberworld, when it's so beautiful?"

Veil remained irresponsive for a moment. Then he began to shake with small, quiet chuckles, that quickly escalated into a full-fledged laughter as the giant Head tilted backwards on its axis. Axl shrank a little into himself, wincing at the horrible cacophony, then seemed to realize that he was being laughed at, and bounced up with a pout on his lips.

"It's _true_!" he argued, working himself into a miniature frenzy. "The Cyberworld is pretty and it's cool! It's my home and I like it the way it is!"

"Your _home_?" Its mirth quieted, and when the Head first righted itself, then leaned forward, its face split into a wicked grin, horrible to look at. "You little fool. You belong to this place as much as a fish would belong in the sky. You and your species are but a _parasite_."

Axl took a step back, confused and intimidated. The other Navis stiffened.

"Oi there!" Kuro called, waving his buster around. "Mind your tongue. If there's something here that doesn't belong in this world, that'd be you, you oversized potato bulb." Rockman tried to reach for his Darkloid and restrain him, but Kuro merely shoved him out of his way, and gestured towards Veil.

"You're a human, not a program." There was a collective start, which Kuro ignored. Veil peered down at him with an impassive frown. "And FYO, 'you and your species'," Kuro mock-quoted, "created this place for _us_. It's the likes of you that don't belong here."

"I commend you for recognizing me for what I am," Veil said, silkily, his voice like the hiss of a snake. "But your words only serve to bring your own ignorance to light. Create this place? The humans didn't _create_ the Cyberworld. It came to exists long before we did."

There was a pause. Silence. Stillness. Then Kuro snorted.

"Funny. Ludicrous, but funny, Potato-head."

Rock elbowed him in the stomach.

"Would you _please_ stop baiting that thing?" he hissed urgently, low enough for only Kuro to hear. "The last thing we need is an angry giant head going rampage on us!"

Kuro glowered, but said nothing. Above and before Rockman and him, Veil's head moved left and right in a sort of condescending, pitying gesture.

"You believe humans created this _place,"_ he spat out the word like a curse. "But think about it: what they invented was the _Internet_. A web, a _route_, linking our world to another. Nothing more, and nothing less. The humans didn't invent the sky. They devised vehicles to move across it. They didn't make the ocean – they made the ships that sail across it. Similarly, they didn't make the Cyberworld – the made a route to reach it: they made the Net."

Silence fell across the room, piercing like a blade of ice. Veil shook his head shook again, rueful, and yet amused.

"This space… this world we call Cyberworld… it already existed. The government had scientists create a gate to our own doom, and _they feel proud of it_!" The massive jaws worked as Veil's teeth ground harshly together.

"The gate to our _doom_," he repeated. Then, slower: "Relics of a super-advanced civilization were discovered throughout the ages. But it wasn't until the invention of computer that humans caught glimpse of what was beyond this reality, the universe known as the Cyberworld.

"The government saw the Cyberworld as a gold mine, and decided they should conquer it, using the technology devised for the conquest of outer space. When forcible access proved ineffective, they had scientists create the perfect means to _navigate_ this unknown universe they'd uncovered. Ultimately, they had them create Net Navigators – Navis, for short. Your _race_."

Rockman drew an harsh breath in.

"How… how can you know that? How could you possibly…"

"I was there," Veil answered. He paused, smirked. The grin plastered to his face grew wider, like a shark's. "I was there when the government chose Dr. Hikari's vision of internet expansion, over Dr. Wily's research in the robotic field. Why, I was even there when the good Doctors partnered for the Cyberworld infiltration project," the Head shook, like with silent emotion. "Alpha, Noah, the Soulnet, Protoman… I was there when they were made."

Rockman licked his lips, unable to think, unable to believe. This man, whoever he was, knew…

"You… you _knew… Dr. Hikari_" he barely restrained himself from calling the doctor Grandfather.

"I worked under Dr Tadashi Hikari back in the days," Veil confirmed. "But when he discovered I loathed his dream of creating artificial humans made of data, he and Wily fired me."

Rockman's head shot up.

"…_Wily_? What's Wily got to do with…?" he shook his head, voice trailing off into a confused silence. "You… you want to tell me that Dr Hikari was…"

"… not the sole responsible for your pitiful existence?" Veil sneered, loathing evident in his tone. "No. He teamed up with Albert Wily, even used part of his studies on A.I. in his research. You are Wily's spawn as much as Hikari's."

Rockman gasped, staggering backwards. Axl was clueless, having never head of either man, and Kuro was simply unconcerned with who or what had made him. However, Blues stiffened at the provocation, and so did Kage.

"Those fool –" Veil's voice was an hiss now, low and dangerous "– ignored my project to create weakling creatures such as yourselves. Look at you. Susceptible to feelings. To change. To corruption. Unlike my EM waves, you can feel, you can _rebel_. But my EMs are the ultimate beings, always ready to please, always doing my bidding."

"The perfect _slaves_, you mean!" Kuro snapped. "Those thing don't have a brain to speak of!"

"Why would they _need_ a brain, to follow instruction? They need nothing but blind loyalty. As things stand they'd do anything for me. _Anything_."

"Electromagnetic waves," Blues seethed quietly. "So this slime is nothing but _noise_!"

"This noise is _perfection_. Electromagnetic beings are fated to replace your kind in the near future. As soon as I'll have destroyed the Cyberworld, I'll create a network of radio impulses to replace the current Net."

"Destroy the…" Rock blanched, then flushed over with anger. "Are you even listening to yourself?!"

Kuro elbowed him at this point, payback for having been silenced before. Only, he did it quite more forcefully than Rock had.

"Remember rule one, Pebble: rule _one_. Don't enrage the Giant Head of Doom."

Rockman glowered up at the Darkloid from under his lashes, but was privately thankful for the intervention, since it helped him regain some measure of composure.

Axl took the silence as his cue to speak.

"But… uhm… Mr. Head, sir… you never… never told me… _why_."

Veil swivelled towards Axl, who had an hard time not cowering in fright under his heated gaze.

"Why," Veil mused. "Why, he asks why, the little fool. Why! Why indeed!" he hollered. "Well, but because if I don't, _it_ will destroy us humans, first!"

There was silence, again. Kage and Blues shared a brief look, but again, it was Rockman who talked.

"How can a _place_ poise a threat to you?" he paused, then softened, slouching visibly. "I know that Dark Navis and other cyber-menaces have harmed humans at times, but…"

"…but there were _humans_ behind every single accident, you can say it Pebble," Kuro inputted. "I should know: I'm a manmade menace myself," he grinned, cheeks dimpling in a grin that was all things wicked and malicious. "Even the so-called God of Destruction Forte was a result of a human mistake." He shrugged.

Veil snorted in humourless condescendence.

"How can it? Are you really so blind, breeder Navi?" Veil mused. "Very well, then; I shall satisfy your curiosity. Defective as your kind are, you might still see reason and join me willingly, if you knew the facts."

He paused, looking up and to the side, like a man who dreams.

"The Cyberworld is a self-sufficient macrocosm, a world in and of itself. The Net routes we created? Nothing but ant galleries that perforate its fabric."

He looked back at the Navis as though they were the ants he was just speaking of.

"But what knowledge do we know of this 'fabric' we willingly plunge into? What do we know of the space that surrounds our internet? What is it made of? How does it react to stimuli? What kind of life thrives in its depths?"

He paused.

"Nothing," he answered itself, quietly and solemnly. "We know _nothing_. We move about in our narrow bug-galleries, unaware and unconcerned of the sheer weight of mud and stone over our unsuspecting heads. Our pathetic Net is encased in something bigger, just like a bug might be encased in a drop of amber resin. And like the trapped bug, we're unable to delve into the jewel and see its core. _But_!"

Veil's head reared up, drunk on the sound of his own voice.

"But…" he repeated, slowly and with mounting glee. "Noah went there. She breached the barrier that separates the Net from the rest of the Cyberworld, and travelled to its very core, the area I dubbed The Spheres. And there she _saw_ it – she saw the being that resides there, the very pillar of the digital universe. A creature of such tremendous power that a mere flick of its hand may destroy us all: the Blue Light."

"The… Blue Light?" Blues questioned, and again, he shook with an odd sense of familiarity at the name, as though he knew – he _ought_ to know – who or what Veil was referring to, but the memory eluded him, like a mirage in the desert heat.

"The Blue Light," Veil repeated in murmurs, like a feverish man who's fallen prey of a delusion. "And what else could obviate such blinding Light, if not a wave of the blackest Darkness? I reprogrammed Noah to chase and revive Darkloids, and used my slime to clone them and create an army of destruction. But the slime-clones are defective, as you might know. They are sane and functional for only a limited time, before the chemical bonds between their atoms start falling apart, and they liquefy back to their original state of brainless matter. I was scouring the Net for something to stabilize their bodies, looking for that far superior being, the greatest invention of Dr Hikari and Dr Wily, but in the Upper Levels I stumbled upon a different sort of salvation – a new kind of Navi, who was born instead of being programmed."

Veil's eyes glittered, like heated mercury.

"With the four of you under my control, I can breed an army of exceedingly powerful digital creatures. I can use the slime to brainwash them into being my slaves, and then send them against the Blue Light, and it doesn't matter how many will be deleted in the process – you'll just breed more and more, and more, until the Light will have fallen, and the Net crumbled."

Rockman was breathing hard with shock and disgust at this point. Even Kuro, for all his steadfast sadism, seemed horrified.

"You…" Rockman breathed out. "You're not even sure that Light would pose any threat to you! If you attack, the Light will have to defend itself, and if it's as powerful as you say, we WILL be destroyed, and it'll be all your fault!"

"It's _light_," Blues broke in, tone simmering with a quiet, honed anger. "_Holy_ Light. Its purpose is not destruction!"

"You lie!"

As Veil roared, the room itself started to shake and splinter, more debris falling from above. The Navis duck for cover, crouching low and raising their arms against the deathly shower.

"You cannot know its intentions! You cannot! You _cannot_!"

There followed a moment of silence as the dust settled, the only noise Veil's rasping, uneven breathing. Then Rockman uncurled from around Axl, barely aware that Kuro had his arms around the child as well.

"Nor can you!" he cried out. "You can't destroy a whole universe and all the life in it just… just because it hosts a creature that's too powerful for your liking!"

The Head tilted itself marginally up. Its eyes remained shielded, shrouded in darkness.

"You are no living beings," it said quietly.

Blues stepped up, putting himself between his family and the enemy.

"You're wrong. We live. We feel. And we die. Just like humans. We are the same. _We are alive_."

Veil let out a roar. The slime coating the floor reacted immediately to its anger: it began to boil and churn, crackling with green sparks. A sick radiance originated from it, flooding the room, painting twisted shadows across Veil's face. One dripping tentacle of slime reached out, curled tight around Blues's sword arm. Rock cried out a warning, but the Red Navi remained unconcerned, and did nothing to either evade or disengage the decayed limb from himself.

"Such a pitiful man," Blues murmured. "What is _really_ driving you?"

Veil's Head shook, eyes wide and crazed, grin sick with delight.

"…_fear_." He said, then cackled. "Don't you see how terrifying you all are? Not only that ancient Blue Light, whatever it might be. But you. Every single one of you monsters. Even your progenitor, who should have been a weakling prototype, had such an endless potential that he had to be sealed off before he realized his power. You might look like humans on the outside, but you aren't. Not within. You are a different race, and you'll desire to overcome us, one day. Even more so now that you've found a way to breed. That's how things work in this world: it's the endless fight to reach the top of the food-chain, to wield the control over every other creature. It's eat or being eating. And I won't let _you_ come out victorious. I will exterminate you first."

**- Scene ****18 cleared.**

**NOW LOADING…**


	27. Stage 5: Maturation part S

Welcome, welcome to the (by now) monthly update of Stages. I keep trying to update quicker, and somehow I always managed to be too busy to write (or to CG-paint. Oh, how do I miss CG-painting! Not that this is related in anyway to Stages, but…)…

Uhm, this seems a good moment as any to say that, if Stage 5 ever was an actual anime, I think the perfect Opening song would be "Asterisk" by Orange Range. X3

Also… did anyone guess what other famous "villain" inspired Veil's aspect, his evil green head et all? :D :D :D

* * *

**Title: **"Infecten – stage 5 – _Maturation 19/?_"

**Author:** Nemesi.

**Fandom:** (MMBN)

**Genre: **Romance. Humour.

**Word Count:**2985.

**Characters/Pairings: **Blues/Rockman; Kuro, Kage, Axl mainly. Others mentioned.

**Rating:** PG-13.

**Disclaimer:** , its characters, places and themes belong to Capcom, Shogakukan, ShoPro, TV Tokio, etc.. No copyright infringement is intended.

**Warnings:** Shounen-ai. Un-betaed. Navi-preg (and I claim _ownership_ on this idea). OC.

**A/N:** In this stage, the disease fully develops into a chronic condition.

**Summary: **That was it. The time for idle chatter was over.

* * * * *

**T**hat was it.

The time for idle chatter was over. Veil had issued his challenge. And his crazy talk had convinced the Navis – _all _of them, adults and child, heroes of light and wicked shadows alike – that they had to put a stop to his schemes, no matter the cost.

The two red Navis were the first to move, and they did so as one.

Blues released a burst of energy. Red sparks were conducted back along the tentacle clinging to his arm and all the way to the Head, effectively stunning Veil for a moment.

That was all the opening Kage needed.

With unexpected coordination, Blues dove and Kage rose from his shadow, using Blues's own momentum to reach higher, and trust his sword towards their enemy.

Surprisingly enough, the blade was deflected. The tip ricocheted off Veil's forehead, leaving a faintly greenish dent a little above the right eyebrow. A small chunk of dark matter went flying, black as onyx or jet, and clanged against the wall. It rebounded solidly against it as if it was made of stone instead than just slime, and fell to the floor.

Veil let out a cackle, teeth gnashing together as his eyes shifted towards his attacker. Kage felt a warning chill travel up his gut, but he wasn't quick enough to evade the tentacle that slammed into his chest.

He was tossed a couple of feet sideways, and landed painfully on his side. He quickly rolled under a few flailing tentacles as Rockman provided cover for him with his buster, then went up on one knee beside Kuro and Axl.

Instinctively, the four adults disposed themselves in a circle, with Axl standing in relative safety in the middle. A multitude of tentacles was sprouting from the slime scattered throughout the room: a set of limbs and hands to go with the head Veil had already crafted for himself.

They came in a variety of shapes and lengths, these tentacles: some were thick, with spikes or suckles running along their length. Others were slim, flat like swords and just as sharp. A few were equipped with a thin, gawping mouth and needle-like teeth, whereas some split at the tip and curved like claws.

There were many – _too many_ – and all of them moving quickly. Soon enough the Navis looked like characters from a fairytale, children lost in a writhing ghost-forest under a sickly green moon.

Then the tentacles began to strike.

"Hmmph," Kuro muttered, rolling out of the way of a spiked tentacle. "Fat, decaying and with no eyes. You'd expect them to at least be _slow._"

"You would call these things fast? That's preposterous," Kage answered, sidestepping another tentacle with elegance that bordered on Smug Flamboyant Flourish.

Kuro 'Pffft'-ed (to pffft: the patented and copyrighted Kuro-action of blowing air through pursed lips to convey either disdain, mockery, or some other demeaning emotion) at Kage, not at all pleased when Blues added his own remark on the less-than-impressing speed of their opponents.

The original Red Navi was currently engaged in a deadly dance with a few tentacles, effortlessly dodging and parrying each of their trusts, when he flung over his shoulder a careless:

"They're barely any faster than your average Metool."

Kage smirked, satisfaction flashing across his handsome face.

"You also find their speed laughable?" he asked with surprising pleasantness. Never losing his (infuriating) smirk, he ducked low, sliced a tentacle in two with a quick jerk of his arm. Coming fluidly to his feet, he turned to dispose of another tentacle. "But then again: the faster the opponent…" he trailed off suggestively.

"The more fun it is to out-speed them?" Blues offered.

"My thoughts exactly."

"Now why doesn't that surprise me?"

"Telepathy?"

"Talk less, kill more, leeches."

The sound of rapid fire followed Kuro's words. Even his _buster_ sounded annoyed.

"You started it," Kage pointed out.

"Pffft. As if I'd…"

"Did too, Kuro-Ojichan!" Axl piped out, peeking from behind Rockman's legs. He stopped kicking a nearby, pint-sized tentacle into submission, and pointed a helpful finger at his uncles. "Kage-Ojichan was talking with Daddy, but it was Kuro-Ojichan who started to speak first! He told about the tentacles' speed!"

Kuro performed the universally-known gesture of forehead-meet-palm, and muttered something about not needing the kind of unhelpful help Axl usually provided.

"That settles it." Kage flashed both a smirk, then quickly leapt over Kuro's head and swung his sword at the tentacle rearing behind the other Darkloid, effectively saving Kuro's life. Landing fluidly on his feet, Kage mock-bowed to Kuro.

"But if I may, I'd follow your own advice and dedicate more attention to the fight."

"Talk. Less. Kill. _More_." Kuro enunciated angrily, slamming his buster onto the tentacle that was (again) trying to creep up to him from behind.

The fight raged on for a few, intense minutes. Felling the tentacles was getting harder and harder as time went on, and the Navis' reserves of energy weren't getting any higher. However, each kill and deletion was nothing but a useless exercise. It was the Head they should focus on, not the tentacles.

But how to reach it?

Even as he thought like so, Kuro noticed that a relatively clear path had opened that lead up to Veil's Head. He had just taken three steps towards it, when Kage and Blues surged high above his head, soaring through the air at light-speed. Dozens of tentacles reared after them, trying to grab at them like angry claws, and dozens more appeared in their path, hindering them.

But the two red Navis were fast, too fast for them. They leapt and bounded, soaring high, slashing furiously but precisely this way and that, Blues with his red energy blade and Kage with his katana. Their hands and arms were moving so fast, they almost blurred out of view. Flashes or brilliant reed and bloody burgundy exploded all around them. Drops of slime showered down in their wake. It was a sight to behold.

Kuro and Rockman gaped at them in open wonder, while Axl cheered (I promise I have no idea where he got the pom-poms from). However, when the two Red Navis reached the Head, hitting it was like trying to cut through stone with a paper stick: each blow was rebounded. Their blades either clanged violently backwards, or slid uselessly against Veil's skin in a shower of sparks. And soon the two swordmasters were forced to retreat.

They somersaulted backwards, landing between their partners with low hisses of frustration. The slime littering the floor was still soft and squishy, as were the tentacles. In point of fact, not two feet from them, a few felled tentacles lay twitching in a pool of their own melting fluids. Then _why_ was the Head as hard as stone, when it was made up of the same substance? It didn't make sense!

"Quick recap," Kuro hissed urgently, cradling his wounded side. "The Head's indestructible?"

"That cannot be." Kage gathered a fistful of slime and watched it drip through his fingers. "Look at this. This substance is soft, malleable. Even when it takes form - " he gestured towards the tentacles swaying around them as though drunk " – it still remains flexible, soft enough for a blade to cut through it. There is no reason why the Head should be any different than the tentacles."

"Flash news, leech: it _is_ different."

Kage frowned.

"Head and limbs are all comprised of the same substance. So what's the catch? What makes one so yielding, and the other so durable?"

If he squinted, Kage could see the dents left by their attacks on Veil's forehead: there were the scratches and dents left by Blues and his blades, and a few smoking craters that were testament to Rockman and Kuro's bullets.

But even as he watched, the wounds began to boil over, issuing a wet, gurgling sound. Quicker than the eye could see, the dents and craters filled with slime, until there was no mark left on Veil's skin.

Kage cursed slowly under his breath.

"That fuc--"

The slap headed his way never got to him, but it did manage to silence him nonetheless. When he straightened from his evasive move, he saw Kuro waggling a finger at him. The look on his face was all sorts of nasty.

"None of that, leech. I thought you made a point not to curse in front of the kitten?"

Kage looked pointedly at him.

"I don't quite recall you ever adhering to that rul—"

One moment, the Darkloids were quarrelling, the next they were leaping away from each other, out of the way of the tentacle that had been hurtling their way. Kuro landed with a back flip, then crouched low to save himself a severe clobbering as the tentacle retracted backwards toward the Head.

"Is _this_ all you can do? This pitiful struggle?" Veil's laughter echoed through the vaulted room. "Give up, breeders. Surrender yourself to me, and there won't have to be pain for you, or the child."

Kuro muttered a smart reply, way too high-rated to be recorded, and aimed a shoot between Veil's eyes. The glob of plasma hit its target, but other than some smoke and an acrid burnt smell, it had no effect.

Veil laughed again, booming and crazed. Then, as the last echoes of his laugh faded away, Veil began to speak, low and urgent, alternating between threats and promises. As he spoke, more tentacles reared up and attacked, from all directions at once.

"…and my army will be endless…" he rambled.

The Navis fought as hard as they could, doing their best to dodge and parry. But tired as they were, they couldn't prevent the occasional hit or injury.

"…they'll crash against the Blue Light …"

One of the mouth-equipped tentacles slithered up behind Rockman, reared up like a snake and bit into the Navi's calf. Rockman faltered, feeling liquid fire shot from the wound upwards, spreading in ever-widening waves.

"…erode it like waves can erode the shore…"

Biting back a groan of pain, Rockman pushed Axl away from danger, and bent over to pull the tentacle off. Behind him, two more tentacles rose, aiming for his buster.

"…the perfect soldiers, they will have no hunger and no thirst…"

Blues was busy fending off a couple of tentacles himself, but turned immediately when he heard (felt?) Rockman hiss in pain (in his mind?). Swirling, he grabbed Axl, cut cleanly through the tentacle attached to Rockman's neck, and followed through with another swing, which caused a second tentacle to liquefy into lifeless slime.

"…they'll know nothing but their will to fight…"

He lost sight of the third tentacle when it uncurled from around Rockman and dove between their legs. His eyes looked around for a moment – left… right… left… _there_! He sensed it. Quickly, he swivelled on his heel, sword high, but Kage had already slashed the thing.

"…and no matter how many will die…"

The two red Navis shared a smirk, then Rockman cried out a warning and raised his buster. Without question, Kage ducked out of the way, then, in one fluid motion, lunged under the tentacle Rockman had blasted, and hefted through another two.

"…more will rise to take their place…"

Kage cursed as he was tackled to the ground a moment later. He tried to twist around, hissing through his teeth when he felt the burning sensation of multiple suckers latching onto his flesh. From his position, Kuro shot rapidly at Kage's attackers, until they dropped into a smoking mess on the floor.

"…and more still, _until nothing but dust will remain!_"

Veil howled with laughter, and a new round of tentacles dove for the Navis, pushing them backwards. The adults instinctively closed ranks, fighting back the onslaught.

"_Darn,_" Kuro hissed when a tentacle smacked him back to back with Kage. "What are those suckers, endless? We don't have time for this! We've got to get the Head!"

"Duly noted, Catboy from Hell. The question is-" he slashed through a handful of tentacles.

"-how?" Blues finished, voice blending flawlessly with Kage's. "Blades are useless against it, and it seems immune even to plasma."

"You're right," Rockman began.

Kuro hushed him before he could say another word on the subject.

"No, they're your average Captain Obvious and More Obvious." He glared at the two red Navis as pointedly as the current situation allowed. "You two _do_ look cool, but if effect's lost whenever you open your mouth, then you'd better… _what?_"

From his relatively safe position in the middle of all the adults, Axl stood, waving one arm high above his head and bouncing a little on the spot in his quest to gain attention.

"I know! I know! If the slime of the slimy Head is not as slimy as slime should be, we can hit the glowy green thingie instead!"

Silence.

"What glowy gree—_watch out!_"

While they were distracted – for their benefit, we'll say that they were busy fighting, and not just chattering. As I was saying: while they were _distracted_, most of the slime had gathered together into a single wave, a foam-capped blackness that was about to swap them all in one blow, like the flies of the old fairytale.

A sudden stillness overcame the scene. It was like being trust with no warning right into the eye of the storm.

Then the wave came crashing down, violently.

Slime splattered across the room, inundated each crevice, submerged each piece of furniture, each antiquate panel, each piece of hardware.

When the tide receded, all that could be seen was a reeking sea of slime, its oily surface rippling as though wind-stirred.

"Got you," Veil mouthed.

His laughter, when it came, was too horrible for words to describe.

* * * * *

Netto stopped knocking his forehead against the desk, and blinked.

Enzan looked up from the folder he was rifling through.

"Finally got tired of the self-inflicted damage?"

Netto frowned and looked around, nursing the growing bruise between his eyes. He didn't even grace Enzan's witticism with a response.

"Did you feel…?"

Enzan cleared his throat.

"…If you mean to ask if I felt a ripple of unease in my stomach just now, then no, I refuse to admit I felt anything of the sort."

He went back to studying the folder in his hands, carefully noting down a few details on a nearby notepad. Netto started to pound his forehead against the desk once more.

"I'm sick and tired of waiting, I want answers and I want them now, and if we felt--"

"Nothing, Netto."

"But we're connected to them!"

"We've been for the whole time they've been missing," Enzan noted, gesturing with the folder towards Netto.

"But--!"

"Research Netto."

"We felt--!"

"Nothing."

"You said that--!"

"Listen," Enzan wrenched his reading glasses off, and rounded on Netto with narrowed eyes. "Now try to tell me, honestly, you haven't felt something _every single moment_ ever since they were taken. Prickles of unease? Check. A chill at the base of your skull? Check. The feeling that comes from being watched? Check. Their voice in the back of your brain? Check, check _and_ check." He made an abrupt gesture, dismissing the subject. "So what if we felt a prickle of something just now? It was nothing but nerves. Get back to work, Netto."

Netto peered up from the desk at the clipped tone, nibbling on his bottom lip.

"We're going to find them, aren't we? And they're going to be all right… aren't they, Enzan?"

Enzan seemed to give the issue a long moment of consideration. The ripple of unease shot through him once more, but he filed it away as a trick of his tired mind.

"Enzan?"

Startled out of reverie, he looked away, gazing at his hands with something akin to guilt on his face.

"Don't be stupid, Netto. Of course we'll find them," he muttered.

Before he knew it, Netto had clamped both hands against his cheeks and forced his head back up.

"Not nearly convincing enough," Netto clucked, shaking his head. "C'mon, Enzan. I taught you how the whole comforting thing works. You say things, I believe them. Only, you failed on the whole me believing them part. You better try again. With a little more passion, though."

Enzan frowned. Netto's tone was light and witty, but his eyes held a hint of pleading. Enzan took a moment to gather his wits, then sighed. His shoulders slumped, then steeled as he seemed to reach a sort of compromise with himself.

Reaching up, he took Netto's hand in his own and gave his fingers a tentative squeeze.

"Netto." He said softly. Then, before the other boy knew it, he was thrown off and lay splattered on the floor, Enzan a menacing figure above him, straddling his waist.

"First thing," Enzan said slowly, his previously soft tone morphed into a growl, "if I say something, I do mean it, so you better believe every word I say. _Every single word_, Netto_._ Second, I don't like repeating myself, but in this case I might allow an exception." He leaned down, until he was nose to nose with the other boy. "We _will_ find them," he said slowly, an edge steel in his voice.

Netto worried his bottom lip with his teeth, the breath he wasn't aware he'd been holding escaping him in a rush. After a moment he gave an hesitant nod, then licked his lips.

"En…"

"Toc-toc."

Both boys turned as one. Spider Lee was leaning coolly against the doorframe. Maya hovered excitedly beside him, green hair in disarray and waving a pink-coloured memo in the air.

"Gonna give ya three guesses, lovebirds," Spider Lee drawled, barely containing his grin. "Whatt'sa look like n' SOS, sounds like n' SOS, reads like an' SOS, and c'mes from the Uranet straight to wonda-boy's laptop, to boot?"

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**- Scene ****19 cleared.**

**NOW LOADING…**


	28. Stage 5: Maturation part T

I'm afraid that the incredible delay of this chapter is inexcusable, especially since I can offer no other explanation than: RL sucked. Long and hard. D: Pretty please, forgive me? With an Axl on top?

I never had any intention of dropping this, and I want to apologize to the friends who were (are still?) reading this, for the long wait. It feels wretched, disappearing for so long and then coming back with THIS sort of cliffhanger. But my writing muse seems to have awakened at least a bit in the last couple of days, so I hastened to take advantage of it. I want and I WILL finish Stages. And I don't want to make you all wait this long ever again; but I also want to give you good-quality stuff, as a thank you for sticking with me so long.

In the end, I'll try for a mix of both things – medium-quality and medium-size chapters that won't take forever to be posted. That is, unless RL messes with me again. It's got a bad, bad habit of doing just that. D:

* * *

**Title: **"Infecten – stage 5 – _Maturation 20/?_"

**Author:** Nemesi.

** Fandom:** (MMBN)

** Genre: **Romance. Humour.

** Word Count:**.

** Characters/Pairings: **Blues/Rockman; Kuro, Kage, Axl.

** Rating:** PG-13.

** Disclaimer:** , its characters, places and themes belong to Capcom, Shogakukan, ShoPro, TV Tokio, etc.. No copyright infringement is intended.

** Warnings:** Shounen-ai. Un-betaed. Navi-preg (and I claim _ownership_ on this idea). OC.

** A/N:** In this stage, the disease fully develops into a chronic condition.

** Summary:**

**

* * *

**

**C**urrently, the room looked like an indoor swamp. Slime littered the floor, covered all the equipment and furniture. Here and there one could glimpse heaps of debris, or pieces of equipment that were tall enough to emerge, if only a little, from the dark liquid.

Veil's giant, green-tinted head came out from its alcove; a wide girdle of tentacles moved with it, each limb shaking and writhing as if it had a life of its own, making him look like a demonic octopus.

"Got you," Veil repeated. Abruptly, he expelled a shrill, crazed laugh, and the tentacles on either side of him dove underneath the slime in search of the Navis.

A moment passed.

Then two, then three.

The Navis weren't to be found.

Veil's face contorted with rage. His cackle morphed into an enraged holler, something raw and wordless that made the walls shake.

The Navis weren't under the slime.

Furious, Veil began to trash this way and that, eyes wide, teeth snapping. The tentacles reared up, pounded the walls like angry fists.

The Navis were _nowhere to be seen_.

Leaving Veil to his spectacular example of short temper, let's move the camera a little higher… higher still… a little more… see that patch of shadows? Let's delve deep into them… deeper… deeper… dee—_bingo!_ Found them, the whole set of five.

Bless their lightning-speed reflexes, Blues and Kage had leaped out of the way a split second before the crash – it goes without saying that they caught Rock, Axl and Kuro and brought them along to safety.

So high up, the wall was smooth, and offered little to no grip. There was a long gash, testament of the intermittent quakes Veil had been causing, wide enough for Blues and Kage to hook their feet in. Their chests were flattened to the wall, their swords acting like a rock-climber's bolt, supporting their weight.

Blues had Axl hooked under his armpit, while Rock was hoisted on his back, clinging tight to his neck. The blue bomber was less-than-impressed by Veil's temper tantrum, let me tell you. He wouldn't spare a word on it, but the look on his face – part disgust, part disapproval – spoke volumes.

His systems were overloading themselves, scanning Veil, the slime, the room, and shifting through possible outcomes. After a while, he shook his head, sagging visibly against Blues.

"It's useless," he mumbled. "That thing has no weakness we can exploit, not without an elemental chip."

"Predictable," Kage hissed back at him. (Un)surprisingly, he was facing his Original, and even in such a precarious situation, their stances were identical (the only thing Kage missed to be Blues's perfect mirror-image were the Axl and Rock additions). Kuro was pressed snugly into his side, both arms around his neck.

"Any suggestion?"

Kuro squeezed him in order to gain his attention.

"We throw you in that slime and hope it distracts Veil long enough for the rest of us to break free?"

Kage's answering smirk seemed almost amused.

_Almost_.

Feral was more like it.

"Cute. Not funny, but _cute_."

Kuro shrugged.

"Hey, you asked for suggestions, I provided one."

"Oh, you…"

"Axl is right!" Rock said suddenly, lips clamping shut when all heads whipped towards him like one. "The glowy green thingie!"

Kuro looked blankly at him.

"Care to elaborate? 'Cause that's not any clearer now that when the kitten-_nevermind_."

At that moment, Rockman started broadcasting a brief signal to the other Navis, transferring a light video file and an attached commentary.

Kage looked surprised as he recognized the images of Veil's first apparition, and the glowing green stone from whence his voice had seemingly come from.

"You mean… that glowing oopart might be the Achilles' heel we are looking for?"

Rockman nodded eagerly.

"That's where Veil's voice came from before he modelled that head, wasn't it? If he is human, that stone _has_ to be his link to the Cybeworld. Cut that link…"

"…and you'll have forced him offline." Kage seemed impressed. "Marvellous idea, Rockman," he complimented, leaning forth to whisper his words against Rockman's cheeks.

If Rock went pink at the velvety-voiced compliment, and Kuro's arms tightened to the point of pain around Kage are matters that are still being discussed to this day.

"If you two geniuses hadn't noticed," the purple Darkloid snapped, venom in his voice, "that green pebble is tucked nice and deep _inside_ Veil's brain, which we _can't_ reach, because the trice-damned Head is hard as marble!"

"We know that," Blues said, sternly, but with an odd softness to it that made Kuro recoil in himself, hunching his shoulders and hiding his flaming face like a reprimanded child.

A long, tense silence followed.

Then Axl made a small, inquiring noise.

"Daddy?"

Blues made a non-committing sound in the back of his throat, which Axl – an authority when it came to Blues-language – translated as: "Go on, I'm listening."

"Kuro-Ojichan said that Mr Head is hard like marble, and if Mr Head is hard like marble, then nothing should pass through him, right Daddy?"

There was another noise from Blues, a book-case of: "Yes, exactly. Why do you ask?"

Axl unfurled a chubby finger, and pointed down at Veil with it.

"Because when Mr Head started to hit the walls, a looooooo~ooot of little stones fell down, and they kinda went through him. See?"

Insert a collective gasp, here.

"Stones?"

"_Through_ the Head?"

"For real?"

The four Navis looked down, and indeed: a fine layer of debris blanketed the top of Veil's Head, each piece sinking slowly down and into him as if he was made of something thick and soft like goo. Even as they watched, a number of small fragments bled from under the massive chin and the back of his nape, plopping into the floor with a wet sound.

Kuro blinked.

"What the…? I _saw_ your blades bounce against that Head. Why is it back to being soft now?"

"The slime is a malleable matter," said Kage (or was it Blues? Damn, in the dark it's hard to tell the two apart). "Veil can mould it into any shape, as per his own admission. It looks like he can also change its molecular structure at will."

Kuro blinked.

"Wait, _wait_. Mr Potato Head down there is squishy like goo until he _decides_ not to be? Is that what you're telling me?"

"I'm telling you _exactly_ that."

Rockman looked shocked.

"What..." he paused a moment, then said in a rush. "What if we _surprised_ him? If he didn't have the time to make the slime go hard, our attacks might cut through it, and damage the green stone."

"_If_ he doesn't notice our attack, then perhaps..." Blues conceded. "But…"

Kage finished for him, their voices, thoughts and words blending flawlessly, just like before:

"…we'd need to concoct quite a diversion, to distract him so completely."

"We need a moving target, you mean." Kuro's input, oddly coated with a sort of madcap-glee. "I volunteer for the job!"

"And I forbid you to move from where you are!" Kage hissed. Almost after its own volition, his arm wound tighter around Kuro's waist, pulling the short purple Darkloid flush against his side with just about enough force to bruise.

"…not until we have formulated a plan," he added a second after, probably to save face.

Kuro pouted (yes, _pouted_. You know he does. It's the Rockman gene) and answered:

"That _was _a plan."

"A _sensible_ plan," Kage amended, turning back towards Blues. "With our speed, it would be easy for us to lead Veil on a chase," he told his Original.

"Yes," Blues agreed. He paused a moment, then shifted his eyes towards Rock. "While Veil's attention is upon us, you and Dark Soul Rockman should hit him with a combined attack."

"Not to burst your bubble," said Kuro. "But the tentacles can keep up with you two no problem. You aren't fast enough to evade them all."

"Besides," Rockman said, shaking his head. "We'd probably need to combine all _four_ our attacks to get through so much slime and reach that small core."

It was at that point that Axl got that starry eyed look we all know and… I'd like to say "love", but the truth is that by now there's no one in the audience that doesn't _dread_ that particular expression of his.

"I CAN HELP TOO, PAPA!"

Those words.

Gods.

_Those exact same words_.

Rockman stiffed, gut clenching with dread, then faced away, as though the barrier of his tightly-clenched eyes might effectively change the reality around him.

"No way."

"I can! I can!" Axl began to squirm, hyper-quick, trying to gain attention.

But Rockman wouldn't listen to him, wouldn't even _look_ at him, hiding his face in the cascade of Blues's silver hair.

"I can run around and poke Mr Head so that it follows me! You know that I could annoy him if I tried!"

Beat.

"…well, I could annoy it even if I didn't try, I suppose, Kuro-Ojichan says I could annoy anything that has ears, and Mr Head has _two_, but PAPA! I'm fast enough to outrun those squishy tentacly things if Mr Head sends them after me! I really am! I can do like I did in the Battle Arena!" he splayed his arms out, kicking around as though to demonstrate, and we can never be grateful enough that Blues was _that_ skilled and well-balanced, or they'd be splattered in a Navi pile on the floor, by now.

"Even Netto-Ojichan says I can be faster than Daddy – for a short while, anyway – but I can! I'm even faster that an Ornithoptera virus!" He whipped towards his uncles, all huge eyes and pouty lips and hope-flushed cheeks. "Kage-Ojichan, Kuro-Ojichan, tell him that I am!"

At this point in time, the Darkloids were the recipients of a glare from Blues, one of the you-ARE-going-to-explain-that-and-I- AM-going-to-hurt-you-if-I-don't-like-what-I'll-hear kind.

Kuro swallowed. Kage grinned, totally unperturbed.

"Papa!" Squirm, squirm. "Papa!" louder, now. "Pa!Pa!"

"No, Axl, no… just… just _no_." One green, green eye emerged from behind the curtain of silver hair, and fixed on Axl. "We just got you back. I won't let you face any more danger."

Axl poked his bottom lip out in a perfect Rockman impersonation, crossing his arms and glaring in a faultless, if miniature, replica of Blues's Angry Stance of Doom.

The effect wasn't in the least ruined by the fact he was hanging under his Daddy's armpit, several metres above the ground.

"This," he said, looking about as threatening as a stuffed bear (but much cuddlier). "Is dangerous already." Then, brightly: "Let me help, Papa!"

"Axl…" Rockman trailed off, looking down and away, and shook his head again.

"Papa, _pu_-lease! I know…"

"…you _know_ what happened the last time you asked me that, Axl."

His voice wasn't hard, or angry. On the contrary, it was soft and low with sorrow. And yet, Axl's recoiled as if stung, and his nose scrunched up in a tearful frown.

"P-papa…"

"It's not your fault, Axl," Rockman offered, voice heartfelt. "But I can't lose you. Either of you," he amended, squeezing Blues tighter. "Not now, not ever."

Axl was trying hard to remain stoic, but judging by the look on his face (and the size of his eyes) it was a losing battle.

"Papaaaaahhh…"

Kuro's eyes kept shifting away from them, only to remain fixed on the picture when Axl's chubby little hands flew up, fingers twisting in Blues's hair on their way towards Rockman's face. The child curled like a kitten, probably trying to reassure himself as much as his parents with the touch.

If you looked at the Darkloid now, and I mean _really_ looked at him, you'd catch the glimpse of something soft in him, something rare and almost sad. Instead than malice and dark joy, his eyes held a faraway look, shadowed by eyebrows that were furrowed ever-so-slightly. His mouth was slack, lips parted and shifting minutely, as if he was uttering small words to himself but couldn't muster the breath to make them audible.

At long last, but like one who dreams, Kuro opened his mouth wide, pushing himself forward as though wanting to say something. But he never managed a word.

Instead, a hissing voice boomed from all around the walls, jostling them out of that peaceful lull.

"_Found you,_" said Veil.

A thick tentacle butted against the wall between Blues and Kage.

It split like glass.

Thick fissures spread, like threads of a cobweb, from the point of impact outwards. The quivering mass of splinters gave way, crumbling instantly, and before they knew it, the Navis found themselves freefalling towards the lake of slime beneath.

For Rockman, the experience of falling was so short, so _quick_, he would later find no trace of it in his logs. The only thing he registered was a rush of images in front of his eyes, a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach, and then he was slamming into the dark goo.

His body moved automatically, and he emerged spluttering. Before his mind actually processed his surroundings, his hands scraped against solid rock and hoisted him up and over a ledge.

Hastily, Rockman wiped the slime from his face. He'd somewhat dragged himself on the flat top-side of a large boulder: most of the room had collapsed around them, and massive shards of stone were wedged into the slime, emerging from the dark waves like islands from the sea.

The first thing he did was scan those islands for any sign of his companions, so he didn't notice a tentacle flying towards him until it impacted with his mid-section.

Rockman was flung across the room and slammed into a wall. Something jarred painfully inside his core, sending errors and alarms to flash across his vision. Like a rag doll, he fell from the wall and onto another flat stone beneath.

It was through sheer willpower alone that he managed to get up; but he was barely on his feet when another tentacle slammed him sideways and flung him against yet another boulder.

He rolled out of the way of a third attack, voluntarily allowing himself to slip over the edge of the boulder and splash back into the lake of slime.

He lay gasping in the shallow depths for a couple of moments, then managed to drag himself out and back up. His body felt heavy and his movements were sluggish. He tried to make sense of the data he was collecting, but his sensors were completely haywire, and his head reeled so badly he could hardly tell up from down. If only he could have a moment to get rid of all that noise inside his core…

However, Veil had no intention of granting him even a second's respite. Rockman drew a quick breath when he heard the rush of yet another tentacle flying at him, but he had no way to dodge. He squeezed his eyes shut, bracing himself for the impact.

But just as the tentacle was about to take a swipe at him, there was a cry, followed by the wet, squelchy noise of the tentacle bursting into droplets of slime.

Panting heavily, Rockman chanced a glance up. On a small, flat rock directly between himself and the Head, Axl stood, back ramrod stiff and shaking like a leaf. His buster was out and armed, a faint glow illuminating the tip.

"H-Hey, Mr. Head! T-that wasn't n-nice!"

Veil laughed once more, crazy and cruel. Raised a slim, willowy tentacle like a finger and pointed it at the child. Axl shook over, but didn't budge.

Rockman tried to gasp a warning at his son, found his vocal functions clogged, and watched in dismay as the tentacle lowered itself on Axl, like a Godly-thumb intent on squelching a lowly bug.

The small rocky island splintered and fell to pieces under the pressure, raising up a storm of fragments and stirring up waves as tall as Axl himself, but…

"Mr Head! Where are you looking at! I'm _here_!"

…but the child wasn't there.

Rockman blinked, stunned. He looked over at whence Axl's voice had come from.

Axl wasn't even _close_ to the point of impact.

Veil swivelled quickly, roaring like a wounded beast.

The child was _meters_ away. Perched on something that looked suspiciously like the upturned console Blues had operated before, and wriggling his finger at Veil as though he was scolding a misbehaving puppy.

"I thought you wanted to play a game with me!" Hands clasped coyly behind his back, Axl swayed cutely on the spot, cheeks dimpled around a brilliant grin. "Then play it right, Mr Head! Or can't you _see_ me?"

Veil roared, a disarticulated cry of rage. Another tentacle emerged from the slime, coiled upwards, then shot straight towards the child. It slammed against the console, whipping up more waves, foam-capped and black like pitch.

The sound of clear, delighted giggles followed the impact, as Axl blurred into view atop a nearby island.

"Missed me, Mr Head!"

Axl was still giggling when the tentacle shot backwards like a coiled spring, crashing into his perch and disintegrating it. Again, when the noise wound down, the air carried the sound of delighted giggles.

"Missed! Missed!" Axl chanted. He was standing onto a boulder directly _behind_ Veil now, holding his sides as he laughed.

Veil gnashed his teeth together, then lunged for Axl again, and again, and _again_. But always, one moment before the impact the kid would blur out of view and reappear onto a different outcrop, laughter streaming freely from his smiling mouth.

"Oppsie! You missed me again, Mr Head. Oh! Again! Where are you aiming? I'm here—no, here! Awwwwwwwww… Mr Head? I'm here, I said!" Axl kicked off the boulder, landed onto another with a flourish and then disappeared before an angry tentacle swept it up and hauled at a nearby wall.

As the incongruous game of tag was taking place, Rockman's systems worked furiously to realign themselves properly. But there was too much noise… too much _slime_. He'd inhaled plenty, ingested even more. The foil substance coated his main frame, his every internal system. He tried to overcome it, to force it out of his body, but it was too slow a process, too slow, too damn—suddenly, a kick slammed between his shoulder-blades, and he was bent in two, hacking painfully and expelling mouthfuls of slime.

He clawed at the ground as his body heaved, but as soon as his retching stopped, fingers curled around his arm, and he was unceremoniously yanked up by the same person who'd kicked him a moment before.

Rockman's eyes widened briefly, then narrowed.

"Dark Soul Rockman…?"

"It's _Kuro_," the Darkloid spat, pushing Rockman away from himself like he'd been burned. "I renounced to that other name. It linked us together, and I want nothing to do with the likes of _you."_

He hauled Rockman off the ledge of the boulder when the blue Navi swayed, and shoved him against the wall with force enough to bruise. Rockman let his eyelids flutter shut as he rearranged his systems into a semblance of normality.

When he opened his eyes again, Kuro was facing away from him, tense like a weary animal. Warily, he followed the Darkloid's gaze to the middle of the room.

Through bleary eyes, he could barely make out the flashes of red that were Blues and Kage, engaged in battle with an handful of tentacles. Beyond them, the tentacled monstrosity that was Veil was trashing this way and that in a vain attempt to catch Axl.

Kuro's jaw tightened.

"Kitten can't keep up that speed for long."

Rockman glanced at his Darkloid, stiffening briefly, then looked back at his son. It was hard to tell from the distance, but Axl _was_ getting weaker. By now, his cheeks were flushed with more exertion than glee, his knees would buckle underneath him every now and then, his breathing was so laboured that the convulsive jerks of his chest seemed almost painful.

Rockman didn't realize he'd taken a step towards his son until he was already swaying with exhaustion. He was caught an inch from hitting the ground, and he leaned back into the arms supporting him before he became fully aware of their presence. Looking up, he saw his reflection look back at him in blood-red tones from Kage's visor. He had no time to question, or even thank him, that he was gently but firmly pushed into Blues's chest.

Something passed between the two red Navis, something subtle and profound, and then Blues was squeezing Rockman, fiercely but still clear of pain, and hastily led him away from the ledge of the boulder.

Ruby red eyes flashed up to Rockman with a sort of aching hate. Then Kuro moved to join them as well.

"Can you take aim?" asked the Darkloid.

Rockman checked his systems over, then offered a nod.

"Then do it."

"What do we…?"

"Remember that half-assed plan from before? It's operative."

"We need to focus all our attacks into a single point while Axl distracts Veil," Kage explained, drawing his blade.

"How much power do you have left?" inquired Blues.

"Who cares how much?" Kuro butted in. "Even if we go through our reserves we still have to…"

"By the love of… _no_!" Kage muttered suddenly, snapping everyone's focus back onto Veil's monster-head. He had opened his large maws, and a steady green glow burned from the back of his throat, gathering into the shape of an orb.

Axl was perched onto a tall, shear-shaped boulder, looking up at the Head with half-lidded eyes. he was bent in two, clutching his side and breathing as though there wasn't enough air in the room. There wasn't an inch of his little body that didn't tremble with exhaustion.

"No, no, _no_!"

"Axl!"

Energy gathered around Veil, hissing. The air began to crackle; a chill swept through the room. Axl had gone too far. He'd gone too far to help them, and _now…_

"_NOW_!" Rockman cried out. "Now! _NOW_!"

Immediately, the four Navis snapped to attention. Drawing every ounce of power from within themselves, they channelled it into their arms, not shaping it any of their attacks, but just pushing it forward, willing it to burst from their cores like water from a dam.

Flaring light surged around them, spiralled up. For a short, breathless moment, it felt like they were in the eye of the storm. An eerie stillness overcame the surroundings, as their powers rotated around them, combining into a flashing vortex. Streaks of blue, red, purple and crimson meshing together, twining like filaments of a rope, their colours meeting and melting into a perfect white. A massive blade of energy took form, reared up above their heads, a pillar of energy that cracked and stood still for a mad, perfect moment.

_There_, Saito's voice whispered from everywhere and nowhere at once, and like a beacon, the stone hidden deep inside Veil was suddenly visible to their eyes, pulsing a wicked green. Moving as one, four arms lowered the blade, hurtled it with speed and precision at their target.

Axl saw this, and kicked away from the wall just as the Head released a shot of sickly-green light from its mouth. He twisted around just in time to dodge Veil's attack… or so he thought. A searing pain like flame or acid spread through his face a moment after the jump. He clutched his eyes, and screamed.

The blade of energy reached its target at the same instant, vaporising half of it on the spot. The green stone emerged from the melting tendrils of slime, hissing smoke. It was with no conscious thought, but rather with the inborn instinct of a fighter, that Axl raised his hand and summoned his Sonic Boom onto his palm, beyond relieved when he felt power surge through him and morph his arm into a cannon.

He remained airborne long enough to see a look of utter, mindless shock sweep through what remained of Veil's face as the stone shattered, and then he fell backwards as Veil dissipated into a shower of pixels. It felt like forever, but it was just a short heartbeat, before he was caught in the warm safety of familiar arms.

Who would have thought? They'd made it, after all.

"No, no we haven't yet. So don't fall asleep now, kitten."

The bad guy's gone Kuro-Ojichan, and you are all good, so we won, right?

"Damn it, kid… how can you…? _You_ are the one who's not good."

I'm _not?_ Truly? But it feels nice! Like I can fly…

"Don't you _dare_ fall asleep on me!"

But I'm sleepy, Kuro-Ojichan…

"Stay awake, Axl. Stay awake!"

I'm trying…

"His data is deteriorating fast."

What's dee-tee-riorating mean, Kage-Ojichan?

"Talk to me, Axl. Axl!"

I _am_ talking, Papa. Why can't you hear me?

"Axl…"

Hey, Daddy. Did you see that? I was good. I used the Sonic Boom and defeated the bad guy. Did I make you proud? Did I? I hope I did, but I'm so sleepy now. Can I please have nap? Please? Don't I deserve it?

"Hold tight, Axl."

I know you say it's not possible, but I like it when you rub me behind the kitty ears. Can you do it a little more? Yes, just a little more, Daddy. It feels so nice. Oh… but… look Daddy. Papa's crying. Have you ever seen him cry? I don't like it. Please, Daddy, make it stop. You can stop petting me, I promise. I won't mind it. I can't feel you touching me, so I won't miss it, really. Go stop Papa's tears, now. Go...

And then everything went black.

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**- Scene ****20 cleared.**

**NOW LOADING…**


	29. Stage 5: Maturation part U

**Title: **"Infecten – stage 5 – _Maturation 21/?_"

**Author:** Nemesi.

** Fandom:** (MMBN)

** Genre: **Romance. Humour.

** Word Count:**2878.

** Characters/Pairings: **Blues/Rockman; Netto, Enzan, Axl mainly. Others mentioned.

** Rating:** PG-13.

** Disclaimer:** , its characters, places and themes belong to Capcom, Shogakukan, ShoPro, TV Tokio, etc.. No copyright infringement is intended.

** Warnings:** Shounen-ai. Un-betaed. Navi-preg (and I claim _ownership_ on this idea). OC.

** A/N:** In this stage, the disease fully develops into a chronic condition.

** Summary: **The link flashed blue, red, yellow, then closed off. The Navis had gone home.

* * *

**A**larms went off in the distance, their noise unbearable. The lights flickered, the ship shook. Debris fell from above, as cracks appeared on walls and floor alike, gaping holes from which the slime gurgled noisily out. The fruity stench of wet, rotten things coated the air, made it thicker than sap.

There came the noise of static, from every direction at once. Several monitors – some of which were adrift in the slime, some perched atop the slime-caked consoles, plus the huge, eye-shaped thing hanging sideways from the ruined wall – crackled to life.

There was nothing but static at first. Then, superimposed on the noise, flickering in and out of view, there came the image of a woman, her lips moving slowly as she intoned:

"Self-destruction mechanisms engaged… 50 seconds to self-destruction… 49 seconds to self-destruction…"

Blues growled low in his throat, clutching Axl tighter to his chest. Kuro and Rockman gasped, both reaching out towards the child, while Kage shot to his feet and ran to the nearest console.

"You've _got_ to be kidding!" Kuro swore, running a frantic hand down Axl's cheek. "Of all the things…"

Kage swivelled on his heels, his body a solid shadow but for the bloody glint of his visor.

"Let's get out of here. _Now_." He walked briskly past the other Navis, gesturing sharply as he did. "The tactile ducts are the quickest way out. Come."

Blues was beside him in a flash, Axl cradled protectively to his chest. Kuro and Rockman hesitated a moment, moved a few tentative steps after them, then broke in a run. The ran by the two red Navis and reached the front of the line. A few remaining Slimers and Fakeloids were sloshing about the ship's corridors, lashing out blindly in pain and confusion. Kuro and Rockman dispatched them quickly and accurately, cutting a swath of destruction on their mad rush to the lowest level.

No words were exchanged as they ran. Only Axl would murmur something every now and then – small, broken words in a small, broken voice, that tore at their hearts equally.

He gasped something when they ducked into the tactile ducts, and then quietened, as if the shadows pressing down on them from all sides somehow unsettled him. It wasn't until they slipped out into the open, that his broken, feverish chant resumed, low-pitched and breathy.

Blues held him closer as soon as the mumbling began anew, but he didn't stop running. Motion to the other Navis with his head, he dived behind a craggy boulder, coccoing his body around Axl's own to shield him from the upcoming explosion. He barely had time to spare Noah a quick glance from over his shoulder, that there was a sudden burst of pixel. Light, rearing up like water from a fountain, white as snow and red as flame. Wind tore through the desert, and a mighty crash followed the explosion, expanding like ripples on a poll. For a moment, it was like a sun burst through the murky darkness of the Uranet, light spreading like fingers to all corners of that forsaken world. An heartbeat later, it was over. Noah was gone. And nothing of her remained behind, not a pixel, not a byte, nothing. She was gone.

Blues became aware that he was staring at the spot where she'd been standing only when he felt hands tugging at him, trying to take Axl from his arms. He snapped back to attention, growling out a wordless warning. Kuro growled right back at him, like an angry cat. Briskly, the Darkloid reached down and titled the child's face into the light.

Axl's eyes moved restlessly behind the lowered lashes, as if he was in the throes of a dream. There was a huge gash across his forehead, X-shaped and deep, trickling a rivulet of vanishing pixels. Kuro shied back with a surprised hiss, muttered a curse, then turned towards Rockman with eyes that were red with grief.

"Now what?"

Rockman started at the sound of his voice, looked up from his son's face into that of his Darkloid and almost reeled back at the sorrow and rage he saw there.

"I… _we_…"

"He needs help." Kage murmured, putting a cooling hand on Axl's cheek, surprised when Blues allowed the touch, shifting so that the Kagemusha had an easier access to the precious bundle he was carrying.

"No shit, Sherlock," Kuro snapped, then pressed the heels of his hands to his eyes, breathing deep through his nose. "I swear, if we went this far only for the kid to…" he gulped down an unneeded breath, gnashing his teeth together.

Rockman reached out to touch Axl, hand hovering uncertainly before cupping the child's knee.

"No," he swallowed. "Nothing's going to happen to my son. I won't let it."

"Yeah, right." Kuro knocked the hand off, and bared his fangs at his Original. "Try being a better parent first; then I might even believe your pretty lies."

Rockman recoiled back. The look of tentative hope on his face darkened into anger.

"Now listen…"

"No, you listen!" He jabbed a finger into Rockman's chest, hard enough to bruise. "We _don't_ have the time or the energy to warp the Kitten back to the Upper Levels, that frigging human of yours has no clue where you are. We're _stuck_ here, and guess what?" He made a wide gesture with his arm. "There's no healer Navi in this forsaken hell-pit! We are screwed. _He_ is screwed, you heard me? _Screwed_! The Kitten's gonna…"

The punch was hard enough to send him flying. Kuro picked himself up, leaning on his elbows, and showed his fangs up at a glowering Rockman.

"Nothings going to happen to Axl!" Rockman repeated, his voice thick with emotion.

"Oh, yeah!" Kuro growled back, impressed, but not deterred, by the determination he saw shining in the eyes of his nemesis. "Because the Netpolice is going to magically appear in front of us-" he snapped his fingers "-and with a full team of medics in tow, to boot!"

Kage stepped between them, hands raised placatingly. Wordlessly, he reached down and pulled Kuro up by the hand, squeezing his fingers in silent admonition.

"I don't know about the Netpolice," he said, pointing a finger to the distance. "But that does look awfully like a rescue team, to me."

Surprisingly enough, it _was_.

Medi was the first to spot the group of deranged Navis among the purple dunes. With a cry, she kicked off the rescue team and towards them, calling their names as she went. Rockman reached out blindly, took hold of her wrist and yanked her towards Axl, words rushing out of his mouth he'll never remember later on. Kuro was beside them, also talking, and even Kage was blowing a stream of soft-spoken words between his lips.

Eyes wide, Medi pulled the child to her, gathered her healing power and channelled it into the small, wounded frame, muttering gentle words of comfort. Searchman came up behind her, followed by Thunderman, Tomahawkman, Gutsman and two others. The officers levelled their weapons at the two Darkloids, their own question and threads adding to the rising cacophony. In the following chaos, it was hard to pinpoint exactly what happened and when, but suddenly, Kuro was yanked away from Axl, as was Kage.

Kuro struggled within Searchman's hold, kicked and lashed out like an angry cat, eyes widening as he was shoved into a link to Sci-Labs. Kage shrugged off Thunderman's hands, paused imperiously before the link and turned towards Searchman. He didn't say a word, but let a small, sharp grin split his face, and dragged a finger across his own throat in a threatening gesture. Confident the message had been received correctly (Touch him again, and die) he stepped into the link of his own volition.

Searchman and the rest of the officers followed soon after, ushering Medi, Axl and Rockman between them.

Blues was the last to follow. He darted a last glance at the wreckage of Noah, his sibling, the sister he never knew he had. She must have used her last, fading strength to send a beacon to the Uppernet, and guided the rescue party to them.

She's saved them.

Again and again, she'd saved them.

And now it was too late to thank her.

Blues stood for a long moment, silent and still, the wreckage reflected on the gleaming surface of his visor. Perhaps he murmured something, perhaps he just thought it. He tipped his head in a final, sombre goodbye. A swirl of silver hair later, he was stepping through the link.

It flashed blue, red, yellow, then closed off.

The Navis had gone home.

It seemed an odd though, especially considering how much he'd grown in the last few days, but Axl was so, so _small._

Floating in the healing tube, with strings of encoded data streaming around him, casting an hard green light across his upturned little face, he looked incredibly small, almost fragile. Unreal, like a toy, or an hologram, still and devoid of life.

Rockman pressed his palms to the glass barrier that separated him from his son, and sighed. The ugly wound on Axl's forehead was healing, but slower than it should. The edges of the X-shaped cut were coming together under his own eyes, as if an invisible seamstress was pulling the frayed ends together from within, leaving a bold, dark-coloured scar in her wake.

Rockman's forehead followed his palms, against the glass.

Axl was so different from other Navis. But Rockman had never understood what that statement implied. He was stronger, incommensurable so. His power almost limitless, gushing not from chips and cheat-codes but from the Cyberworld itself.

But he was also much more fragile than the rest of his kin. His wounds wouldn't heal at the snap of his Operator's fingers, Health Chips or Custom Programs couldn't properly replenished his energy.

He could evolve.

He could scar.

He could die.

And that X-shaped mark between his eyes would forever remind Rockman how close he'd got to lose his child.

He reached up to grasp Blues's hand before it could even touch his shoulder. He squeezed his mate's fingers once, asking for some time to collect himself, then straightened himself. When he turned, the sight of Blues brought a wave of fresh tears to his eyes. His helmet had been disposed off, and his face was grim and taut with worry and exhaustion. Rockman turned his back on him a moment later, biting his lip.

"What did Dad say?" he asked quietly, as if someone else might be listening in and Rockman was afraid of their answer.

Blues pulled his mate to him, back to chest, putting his chin on top of his head before answering.

"That there's hope. Axl's healing rate is slower than your average Navi, but Hikari-Hakase thinks it's just a matter of finding the right…" he paused a moment. "…_treatment_."

Rockman exhaled loudly.

"Healing Chips won't work?"

"They help, but not as much as they should. Axl – all the New-Gens Navis that will come after him – will probably need a different technology, to be healed. Chips are inadequate – that's why the wound is scarring. But he will make it, Rock."

Rockman flexed his fingers against the arm cradling his waist.

"Truly?"

"Truly."

"Promise?"

"Promise."

"I just…"

"I know."

"It was…"

"Not your fault," he rubbed Rockman's arms. "Never _your_ fault."

Rockman moved his head as much as it was needed for him to meet Blues's eyes. He studied his mate for a moment, frowning, then his face cleared. He tugged gently onto a strand of silver hair, and touched their foreheads together.

"Blues, don't take the blame from me only to put it on yourself."

Blues seemed suddenly self-conscious.

"Rock, I…"

"No," Rockman shook his head. "If someone is responsible for this, it's Veil." His lips tinned. He stood pensive for a moment, locked in silence, then: "What do you think happened to him?" he asked.

Blues shook his head, tugging Rock away from the tube and into a nearby stool.

"Veil wasn't really in the Net. What we battled was a mere avatar. He used psycho transmission to send his conscience to the CyberWorld. So wherever he is, he is…" again the hesitation. "…_unarmed_."

"Unpunished, you mean." Rockman took a big, unneeded breath and rubbed his face. "But he'll lie low for a while, won't he?"

"Probably." Blues nodded. He didn't say that the loss of Noah and that huge amount of slime must've put a damper on Veil's evil schemes, but Rockman understood it nonetheless. "I submitted a preliminary report to Enzan-Sama. His assistant confirmed that Veil did indeed work for Dr. Tadashi Hikari in the pre-internet age. As far as I can tell, an arrest warrant has been issued, and Inspector Oda is already on the move."

Rockman looked sharply at him.

"They told the Net-police about Axl?"

"Axl was a victim of abduction, like you and I were. He's been confirmed as a Sci-Lab Navi, legally registered with the Hikari family. That's all the information that has been divulged to the public."

Rockman nodded, gloomily. They remained in silence for a second, then Rockman gasped.

"The Darkloids!" He turned towards Blues with wide, worried eyes. "They're wanted criminals, aren't they? What has been done to them? Are they still…?"

"Confined to this PC until further notice." Blues smiled, tucking a strand of hair behind Rockman's ear. "I had the presence of mind to declare them under my personal custody as soon as we arrived here." His face darkened, as did Rock's.

"Not a moment to soon. If looks could kill, they'd be a heap of pixel at Searchman's feet."

Blues chuckled, an unexpected, but not unwelcome sound.

"I was more worried about Searchman's safety, myself. I don't think my Darkloid appreciated the way he manhandled DarkSoul Rockman."

"Kuro," Rockman corrected. Then, at Blues's question gaze: "Kuro," he repeated. "That's the name my Darkloid goes by now. I think your Darkloid…"

"Kage," Blues confirmed with a nod.

"Black and Shadow," Rockman mused, leaning back against Blues's chest. "Our dark twins. What'll be of them?"

"I'm not sure. Darkloids can thrive only in the Uranet, which I guess is where they'll head next. I doubt they'll leave before Axl has woken up, but I'd like to release them as soon as possible."

Rockman glanced at him, his expression wondering.

"You are letting them free?"

Blues offered a shrug.

"I am more than aware of the crimes they have committed, but they've already been punished and deleted for them. They've been given a second chance at life, and as far as I know, there is no reason not to let them go. They haven't done anything wrong."

"Yet."

"Yet," Blues conceded. "But they're not guilty of anything, and as such, they should be free to go and live their life."

Rockman heaved a sight. He'd caught Blues's hands with his and was playing absent-mindedly with his fingers. Blues caught (as usual) what wasn't said. Slowly, he manoeuvred theirs hands until their palms were flush, their fingers curled together.

"I _really_ do owe him a reward, Rock."

"I know that. I mean…"

He meant that Darkloids didn't follow the same rules, or moral, as Upper Level Navis operated by a Human did. He meant that Kage could've easily left Axl to the Slimers, but he hadn't. He meant that Kage could've hurt, or deleted the child, but he'd protected him instead, and reunited their family.

He didn't say any of it.

"It's just… what is he going to ask of you, Blues?" His grip tightened around Blues's fingers.

Blues made an uncommitted sound in the back of his throat. "What is this data he needs so badly?"

"I don't know for sure. But I do have a guess."

Rockman cast him another quick glance.

"You do?" He asked, and when Blues nodded he added: "And it's something you _can_ give him? It's not going to put you… or anyone… in danger, is it?"

Blues gently pushed Rockman away and straightened to his full height.

"I honestly can't tell, Rock. In the hands of a Darkloid, anything could be dangerous. But the way I see it, I'm going to give him something he would be able to gain in his own time. I'm just speeding up the process."

"You're…"

"Willing to take a chance?" Blues's helmet appeared in his hands, and he slipped fluidly over his head. "Yes."

Rockman watched him go, feeling a prickle of unease deep in his core, but did nothing to stop him. Instead, he turned back towards the glass tube wherein Axl was sleeping, and resumed his silent vigil.

* * *

**- Scene 21 cleared.**

**NOW LOADING…**


End file.
